Bugs on the Run
by TheGreatElisaMousy
Summary: Wasp is back in Detroit and Bumblebee's determined to make it right this time. But he's not the only one who knows Wasp is back. Now Bumblebee and Wasp are on the run from the Autobots, Decepticons, and Earth authorities.
1. Chapter 1

**Alright, so this is basically my Transformers Animated AU where Bumblebee and Wasp are twins, but Wasp got to boot camp first and got a bit of popularity, even outside their own 'unit'. Bumblebee was awkward when he showed up, so no one really liked him. Wasp** _ **could**_ **have stuck up for Bee, but popularity went to his head and, well... we know where it went from there.**

Bumblebee lay awake in his berth, despite the fact that it was 2:00 AM, Detroit time. Ever since their last encounter with Wasp—who had become Waspinator—he had had trouble recharging. How could it have gone so far?

 _"Wasp... forgive Bumblebot."_

Just when he'd been forgiven, that... that _thing_ his twin had become took over.

 _"But Waspinator NEVER forgive!"_

Bumblebee covered his face with his servo, trying to hide the coolant pooling in his optics, just in case anyone walked in. If only Wasp hadn't let his popularity get to his head... If only he had stuck by Bumblebee's side. At first, Bumblebee thought Wasp was just teasing him, but...

 _"You poor, sad, bot. It's not how you were forged. It's who you know."_

That was when he knew he was serious. Well, if Wasp was going to act like he didn't know him, fine! Let him be that way! See if Bumblebee cared.

But he did care. He always cared, which was why it hurt so much to see him carted away to prison. He should have confronted Wasp first. He would have _known_ Wasp wasn't the traitor if only he had _talked_ to him first. But he couldn't think straight. The thought that his brother might be a traitor, coupled with the hurt of Wasp's treatment toward him prevented that thought from even crossing his mind.

And when they were trying to track him down... Bumblebee just ran his motor mouth like always, not realizing how much worse he'd make it for Wasp. He didn't realize how fractured his brother's mind was. How low his trust was, especially toward the yellow bot.

 _"Bumblebot lie! Wasp not listen!"_

He clenched his servos. He needed some air.

As quietly as he could, he crept out of the base, managing to not wake anyone. Transforming, he took off, taking empty side streets and whatever back alleys he could fit through. But the city, even at night, was still too loud. Driving to the pier, he looked over at what was left of Dinobot Island. As long as he avoided the Dinobots and returned to the base in the morning, he'd be fine. Now he just had to find a way of getting there.

Wait a minute... the turbo boosters were still in his subspace! And they'd been attached and removed so many times he could do it himself now! Transforming back to robot mode, Bumblebee reached into his subspace and pulled out the turbo boosters. After a moment, they were attached. He wasn't sure they would last him the whole way, but they could get him close enough.

Bending down to a ninety degree angle, he activated the boosters, taking off toward the island and high speed. They burned out right as he got to the beach, causing him to fall on his face and roll a few times. His momentum abruptly stopped when he hit a tree. "Owww..." he muttered, rubbing his helm as he sat up. "I really hope that didn't wake the Dinobots..."

Of course, nothing ever went the way he wanted it to. He took a hesitant step back when the trees in front of him rustled. Could he escape a raging robot dinosaur? Maybe. Could he keep it up all night? Probably not. Could he get back to the mainland? Not until his boosters cooled down.

Needless to say: he was slagged.

He closed his optics, hoping it would be quick. But when nothing happened, he slowly opened them. The creature in front of him wasn't a Dinobot. It was a large, familiar green figure with big purple eyes.

"Wasp? Er, Waspinator?" Bumblebee asked slowly. Hadn't the techno-organic been destroyed in the explosion, along with Blackarachnia?

"Bumblebot," he growled out, studying the yellow bot. He almost seemed to be studying him, probably trying to figure out of he was going to offline him or not.

"Uh, don't take this the wrong way, but, uh... how are you, you know, alive?" Bumblebee asked, truly curious.

"Waspinator went with Spiderbot, but Waspinator pulled Waspinator together."

"Pulled yourself to... did you _explode_?"

Waspinator nodded. "Waspinator in many pieces, but Waspinator fix."

"Uh, good for you?" Bumblebee said. Deciding to risk asking what else was on his mind, he added, "Why'd you come back here from wherever you were transported to?"

"Waspinator not like jungle," the large bug replied. "Island familiar... but away from bots that want hurt Waspinator."

Bumblebee smiled sadly. It didn't seem like Waspinator was going to offline him. At least, for now. "So, uh... you happy here?" He didn't get a response. "Well, if you're not, I hope that changes." _You may have changed a lot, Wasp, but you're still my brother._ Glancing at the horizon, he could see the sun slowly begin to rise. "I need to go now. Bye." He waved over his shoulder. He was about to say 'see you again' but the way Waspinator was studying him again, he decided against it.

 _ **X**_

Bumblebee managed to make it back to base just before Prowl got up. Finally, he caught a lucky break! He still couldn't recharge, so he laid on his berth for a few hours before getting up. 8:00 in the morning was still a little early for him, but whatever. As he got his morning energon, he could tell Bulkhead was trying to talk to him, but he kept tuning out, staring out the open door toward Dinobot Island, where he now knew his brother was living. Hopefully, he was safe. Hopefully, that night, he'd be able to recharge, knowing that.

Shaking his head slightly to snap himself out of it, he looked at Bulkhead. "Sorry, what? I kinda zoned out there for a sec."

"Thinkin' about what?" Bulkhead asked.

"Oh, you know, just... stuff."

 **Yeah, I know this was kinda short and weird, but hopefully the next ones will be longer. I know Waspinator may seem out of character, considering he was very violent in Predacons Rising, but he's had time on his own, and now that he's not consumed by his anger at Blackarachnia, he doesn't really have much of a desire to hurt Bee. If this seemed slow, don't worry, it'll pick up.**

 **See ya on the flipside~ Elisa out~**


	2. Chapter 2

**Like I said, hopefully this will be a little more engaging than the last chapter. But, hey, every story needs a setup, right? Also, in this AU, twins have this kind of connection (which is why Jetstorm and Jetfire are able to always finish each others' sentences and talk in perfect sync (though their connection is stronger than most). So, without further ado, on with the show~**

 _Bumblebee was sitting in the base's rec room. The television was broken, so video games were out._

 _"Hey, Bumblebrat," he heard a familiar voice behind him say. The Autobot froze. Only one bot ever called him that. Turning, he saw Wasp leaning against the wall. Not Waspinator. Wasp. His optics were blue. He still had his insignia. His coloration was more teal than green._

 _"Wasp?" Bumblebee asked. "What the...?"_

 _"Come on, you know what they say about connections with twins," Wasp said with a small smile._

 _"So this is...?"_

 _"A dream," the teal bot replied. He walked over and sat next to his brother on the couch. "Now that I'm back in... what's this place called?"_

 _"Detroit," Bumblebee supplied._

 _"Right," Wasp said with a nod. "Now that I'm back in Detroit, I can tell you this. Inside that thing, Waspinator, I'm still in there. Pretty deep inside, but still there. I want you to get me out, Bee."_

 _"What?" Bumblebee asked, incredulous. "How?"_

 _"I'm not sure," his brother replied. "But if anyone can reach me in there, it's you. I don't want to be a monster, Bumblebee, and I'm pretty sure you're the only one who can help me."_

 _"No pressure," the yellow bot said._

 _"Yeah, no pressure," Wasp agreed with a small laugh. "And... any way you can keep Sarge off my back?"_

 _"I can do my best, but the guy still kinda hates me," Bumblebee said with a shrug. "But, hey, we've got a Prime and three others bots to vouch for you... I think."_

 _"You're a lot of help," he said with a small laugh, lightly punching Bumblebee's arm._

 _"Oh, now you're asking for it!" Bumblebee said with a laugh, pouncing on his brother. He smiled. These were the good old days._

 _And he was about to get them back._

 _ **X**_

When Bumblebee woke up, he was grinning. It was sad for him to leave that behind, for it to just be a dream, but that could change very soon.

"Bumblebee," Sari began as he moved past her on the couch. "Where are you going?"

"Uh, I just... I have some... errands to run! So, uh, see ya!" And with that, he dashed off, transforming mid-step. He felt really bad for just leaving Sari like that, and lying to her on top of it, but he needed to save his brother. In that dream, Wasp told him that he was buried _deep_ in Waspinator. There was no telling if he was slowly fading away, and Bumblebee couldn't let that happen. He couldn't let his twin die.

Within ten minutes, he was back on the island, actively looking for Waspinator while trying to think about how he was supposed to go about doing this. Was he supposed to just... talk to him? What if Waspinator attacked him? Should he fight back?

His thoughts were abruptly cut off when he saw his target. "Uh... Waspinator?" he asked tentatively, causing the techno-organic to look over at him. He automatically took a defensive stance, as though he was ready to attack at any minute. Apparently, their talk a few nights ago meant nothing... "Relax, I just want to talk..."

"Bumblebot want to _talk_ with Waspinator? Bumblebot _betray_ Waspinator!" He readied his arms for battle, and Bumblebee remembered that those worked like stingers... only more dangerous.

"Come on, please don't make me do this," Bumblebee said, raising his own stingers, just in case.

"Too late for talk now, Bumblebot," Waspinator warned before diving at him, arms crackling with electric power. Bumblebee just barely managed to roll out of the way in time, landing in a crouch with one stinger pointed.

"I know you're in there, Wasp!" the small Autobot called out. "You can fight it! I know you can!"

"Is no Wasp!" the larger creature yelled. "Is only Waspinator!" With that, he dove again, causing Bumblebee to jump back.

"Where's the bot who always had better aim than me, even though I denied it? The bot that helped me when I got hurt?" Bumblebee asked desperately. Backed against a tree, he had no choice but to raise a stinger as Waspinator dove at him. His hands clashed with Bumblebee's stinger, causing him to be tossed back.

"Bumble... bot...?" he asked slowly before shaking his head.

Bumblebee's optics widened. He _was_ reaching his twin. "Come on, Wasp, you're almost there!"

"Not for long!" Waspinator growled, diving again. Bumblebee raised his stingers again for defense, but Waspinator overshot very slightly. Instead of hitting him or flying right past, he landed right on the stingers, impaling him. The world seemed to stand still as what must be a mix of energon and organic blood dripped around the wound, down his stingers.

"No..." he managed to choke out, lowering his arms and allowing the body to slide off his stingers, which were now covered in the liquid oozing from Waspinator's motionless body.

 _"NO!"_

 _ **X**_

"What are you guys doing here?" Optimus asked as Jazz, Jetfire, and Jetstorm all entered the Autobot Earth base.

"SP got news that Waspinator's back here," Jazz replied. "Since he's busy back on Cybertron, we can to check it out."

"He be on island, maybe?" Jetfire asked.

"He might be," Prowl contemplated. "It's the only place he can stay hidden easily."

"What're we waiting for, then?" Jazz asked. "Not to sound like Sentinal or anything, but we'd better get him fast."

"He's right, Prime," Ratchet agreed. "From what you told us, Waspinator's even more dangerous than Wasp ever was. He needs to be captured or offlined."

"We'd better let Bumblebee know," Bulkhead said. "He can meet us there."

"Good idea, Bulkead," Optimus agreed before contacting Bumblebee. "Bumblebee, we have reports that Waspinator is back in Detroit. We think he might be on Dinobot Island. Meet us there as soon as you can."

"Okay," the younger bot said in an unusually dull tone. "On my way, Prime..."

"Okay, that was weird," Bulkhead said, having been on the same frequency.

"It almost doesn't sound like Bumblebee," Prowl agreed.

"Maybe we shouldn't have him come with us," Ratchet said. "After all, with his history with Wasp..."

"All the more reason for him to come," Optimus argued. "He knew Wasp better than the rest of us, so he might be able to help us against Waspinator." Turning to the door, he said, "Autobots, transform and roll out."

 _ **X**_

Bumblebee sat, staring at the body of his mutated brother for a long time. How could he have done something like that? He was his _brother_ , for spark's sake, and he killed him.

"Bumblebee, we have reports that Waspinator is back in Detroit. We think he might be on Dinotbot Island. Meet us there as soon as you can," Optimus told him through the comm link.

The small Autobot should have told the Prime that he didn't need to come out here. That there was no problem anymore. That Waspinator was...

"Okay," he said instead, knowing he wouldn't be able to say those words. "On my way, Prime..." As soon as the comm link was shut off, he broke down. Pulling his pedes close to his chest plates, he let the coolant fall freely in silent sobs over the twin he'd killed with his own servos. "I'm so sorry, Wasp... I'm so, so sorry..."

"Bumblebot...?" a familiar voice asked hesitantly.

Bumblebee's head instantly shot up. Where Waspinator's body had lain, there now sat Wasp, purple eyes staring at Bumblebee in slight confusion. "Wasp?" he asked slowly. Looking around him, he saw the remains of pieces of insect exoskeleton. It looked like killing Waspinator freed him. "Wasp!" he immediately ran over, kneeling down in front of him. The wince from the green bot didn't escape his notice.

"Where Bumblebot and Wasp?" he asked quietly.

"That doesn't matter right now," Bumblebee said with a huge smile, coolant falling, this time with joy. He had his twin back. He had Wasp back. "What do you remember?"

Wasp put a servo to his helm, thinking. "Wasp was... running from Autobots... flying bot take Wasp to island with Spiderbot... Spiderbot change Wasp... Wasp attack Autobots and Spiderbot... Wasp explode and pull Wasp together... Wasp come to island and... Wasp attack Bumblebot..." With that, his eyes widened, backing up. Bumblebee thought it was because he remembered him killing Waspinator.

"I'm sorry about... that..." the yellow bot said, motioning to the pieces of exoskeleton around them. "I won't hurt you, I promise. Please don't be afraid of me."

"Wasp not afraid of Bumblebot," Wasp explained. "Wasp afraid of Wasp... Wasp try to kill Bumblebot..."

"No, that wasn't you," Bumblebee assured him, grabbing his shoulders. "That was Waspinator, the thing Blackarachnia turned you into. You couldn't help it. And besides, it's in the past, just like... well, you know."

Wasp nodded a little. "Wasp meant it," he said, earning a look of confusion from his twin. "Wasp forgive you."

"Step away from the fugitive," they both heard and looked up to see Jazz standing on a hill above them. "I'm sorry, Bee. I don't wanna have to use this, but I will if I gotta." He pulled out a pair of stasis cuffs. "So, Wasp, you gonna come quietly or do we gotta do this the hard way?"

"We prefer hard way," Jetfire and Jetstorm said together, grinning.

Wasp's eyes widened, looking from the Elite Guard members to Bumblebee. "Bumblebot betray Wasp again..." the green bot said, backing up from them.

"No, Wasp, I swear I didn't tell them anything," he insisted.

"Bumblebee," Optimus said, coming up from behind Jazz with the other Autobots. "Do what Jazz said."

"No," he said stubbornly. "He's innocent, he's scared, and he doesn't deserve to go back to the stockades!"

"You need to make up your mind, kid!" Ratchet yelled. "He's guilty, he's innocent, he's guilty, he's innocent. Which is it?"

"Innocent," Bumblebee answered. "He was upset and angry with me, which is why he tried to switch our places. And fighting against all of us? We attacked him first! He was _scared_!"

"What about Waspinator?" Prowl asked with a raised optic ridge.

"That wasn't even him!" the smallest bot argued. "He wasn't in control! Waspinator wasn't Wasp, it was just something that took him over, but that's gone now." He gestured to the pieces around him and Wasp, drops of energon-blood dripping from his stingers, which were once again out if worst came to worst.

"Why are you so desperate to keep him from getting arrested, anyway?" Bulkhead asked, confused.

"I just am!" Bumblebee argued, eying Jazz and he came down with the stasis cuffs. They looked different than normal ones.

"Special grade," Jazz said, answering the unasked question. "Just to make sure he doesn't escape." Wasp was frozen in fear, not wanting to go back to the stockades but also having nowhere to run. Jazz clicked one of the cuffs on the fugitive, but before he could click the other, Bumblebee jumped at him. He wouldn't let his brother go back. That was the only thought crossing his mind, not even caring about what would happen to him for attacking a member of the Elite Guard.

Jazz backed up, accidentally dropped the other end of the stasis cuffs. To everyone's surprise, the cuff attached itself to Bumblebee's arm. The twins stared at the cuffs for a moment before looking at each other.

"Run!" Bumblebee yelled, turning around and running around Wasp so they could go straight. He took off, dragging a dazed Wasp behind him. A small electric buzz was going through the cuffs, obviously trying to put him into stasis, but he couldn't let that happen. When they were sparklings, Wasp had always protected him. Now it was his turn to do the protecting.

 **So, yeah. Now, Bee and Wasp are** _ **both**_ **fugitives. In case you're wondering why Bee is suddenly** _ **this**_ **protective, think about it. He's felt like shit for sending his own brother to prison, and even more so when he found out Wasp was innocent. Now that he has a chance to try to make it right, he's taking it.**

 **Also, I've decided that I'm going to possibly wait for at least two comments per chapter to update. This is not a case of 'if anyone is reading'. I have many more chapters already finished, but the story itself isn't complete. I don't want to post it all at once and have some huge hiatus. So, if you want to see the next chapter soon, it would be a good idea to review. (Of course, if I don't get that within, I dunno, maybe two or three weeks, I'll still post the next chapter. Reviewing just makes it come quicker)**

 **Welp, that's that, so: See ya on the flipside~ Elisa out~**


	3. Chapter 3

**Holy shit, that was fast, guys! Not sure I'm gonna be able to keep up with you.**

 **Alright, quick recap. Bee and Wasp are twin brothers, Wasp sent Bee a 'dream message' over their twin-link thing (Wasp disabled it when he was sent to the stockades, but was able to engage it again while inside Waspinator). Bee ended up killing Waspinator, which freed Wasp. The Elite Guard came to take Wasp into custody, Bee and Wasp ended up getting cuffed together, and now they're on the run.**

 **Any questions?**

"Come on, Wasp, we gotta move!" Bumblebee yelled, still dragging his twin behind him as they ran through the forests of Dinobot Island. Bumblebee was fast, even in robot mode, and since the others couldn't transform in this dense forest, he had the advantage. Dragging Wasp was slowing him down a little, though.

The green bot shook his head a few times, snapping out of his daze and running with his brother. He didn't know why Bumblebee was suddenly helping him, but he was glad. He just hoped it wasn't some trick... that Bumblebee was leading him to Sentinal Prime.

Glancing behind him, Bumblebee was easily able to read Wasp's face. "I know that look. Don't worry, bro, I'm not turning you in. Now come on, we gotta get out of here!"

"Bumblebot fugitive too?" Wasp asked, speeding up a little to keep pace with his twin.

"Probably," the yellow bot said. "I mean, I _did_ help you escape _and_ assault a member of the Elite Guard." He paused for a moment, still running. "I'm slagged."

"Wasp not understand," Wasp said slowly. "Why Bumblebot help Wasp?"

Bumblebee laughed. "Isn't it obvious? Look, I'm really sorry for everything that happened. I _really_ am. I should have talked to you before going to Sentinel."

Wasp looked away. Even with his mind as fractured as it was, he remembered why Bumblebee had done that. "Wasp sorry..." he whispered, voice almost blocked by the wind, but Bumblebee's audio receptors could still pick it up.

"Why are you apologizing?" Bumblebee asked. "I'm the one that screwed up."

"Wasp mean to Bumblebot," Wasp elaborated. "Wasp act like Bumblebot stranger... made Bumblebot hate Wasp..."

"I never hated you," Bumblebee told him. A thought hit him. "We need to scramble our frequencies, or they'll be able to track us."

Wasp nodded. "Bumblebot... forgive Wasp?"

"There's nothing to forgive," Bumblebee replied. "I mean—get down!" he abruptly yelled, diving to the ground. He forgot for a moment that they were cuffed together, meaning that because Wasp wasn't ready, he fell on top of his brother. The two just narrowly avoided a stream of fire. "Oww..."

"What that?" Wasp asked, nervous. He didn't know any Autobot that could do something like that. Were they being attacked by Decepticons now?

"Great," Bumblebee muttered, ignoring him for the moment. "First the Elite Guard, now the Dinobots. How much you wanna bet we'll run into some Decepticons this afternoon?" he asked sarcastically. He scrambled to his feet, using a tree to support him while helping Wasp up. Now standing in front of them was a giant robot shaped like a Tyrannosaurs: Grimlock. "H-Hey there, Grimlock... buddy..."

"Intruders!" he predictably yelled, transforming. "Me, Grimlock, destroy!"

Bumblebee facepalmed. "Of course. Why not?" He paused. Didn't Grimlock hate Optimus? He hated to do this to his own comrade, but desperate times... "Hey, Grimlock, remember Optimus Prime? Big blue and red truck?"

"Truck robot, baaaaad!" Grimlock yelled, even angrier than before.

"That's right, truck robot very bad," Bumblebee agreed. _Sorry, Prime._ "And he's back that way, coming here. You don't want him on your island, right?"

"Tiny yellow robot not lying?" Grimlock asked suspiciously.

Bumblebee raised his right hand and made a crossing motion over his chest plates. "Cross my spark and hope to fly."

Grimlock considered this for a minute. "You tiny robots stay here. Grimlock come back."

"Okay, buddy," Bumblebee said with a fake smile plastered on his face. As soon as Grimlock was out of sight, he whispered, "Run." And in an instant, the twins were off again.

"Bumblebot," Wasp began. "Why Bumblebot tell that bot about Prime?"

"Family first," Bumblebee told him simply. "I'm sorry I didn't remember that in boot camp."

Wasp thought on that, not saying another word until they reached the beach on the other side of the island. Battle cries from behind them indicated the battle that was no doubt raging between the Autobots and the Dinobots. "Now what?" Wasp asked, staring at the water.

"We go for a swim," his brother replied, walking straight into the water. He felt resistance, though, when the cuffs pulled on his wrist. Looking back, he saw Wasp still staring at the water. "Come on, it's okay. It's not like it's going to hurt you."

Wasp looked away, embarrassed at how he was acting. But this was all so strange to him. Finally being free of Waspinator, having Bumblebee on his side, running around this island, that Dinobot... It was too much for his processor to handle at once.

"Please don't crash on me," Bumblebee begged. "It's just a little water." After another moment's hesitation, Wasp followed him and they sank below the surface. "We have to go pretty deep so they won't be able to see us if they get out here," the yellow bot informed the green one.

Wasp nodded. "Where Bumblebot and Wasp go now?"

"Not sure..." Bumblebee thought, pausing once they were deep enough. The stasis cuffs were still slightly draining them. Sooner or later, they'd both be out, and then it was only a matter of time. "Well, first things first, we get these off." He lifted his left hand, connected to Wasp's right. "The question is... how?"

Wasp thought for a moment. "Bumblebot have combat stingers?"

"How did you—?" he began before remembering that Wasp had accessed his files while they had switched places. "Yeah. Why?"

"Wasp have powerful stingers," the green bot continued. "Maybe stingers can break cuffs?"

"Worth a try," Bumblebee said, raising his right hand while Wasp raised his left, both changing their hands into stingers. The both tried to zap the cuffs, but they wouldn't come off. The buzzing stopped, though. "Did we just take the stasis out of stasis cuffs?" Bumblebee asked with a small laugh, and a second later, Wasp was laughing with him. After they had calmed down, Bumblebee said, "I think, first, we should get out of Detroit. It will be a lot harder for them to find us if we're out of scanning range, even though we did scramble our signals." Wasp nodded. Bumblebee pointed. "If we keep heading that way, we should be able to make it to Ohio." At Wasp's blank look, he helpfully supplied, "It's a state. The city of Detroit is in Michigan, and just south is Ohio."

"And when Wasp and Bumblebot get to Ohio... then what?" Wasp asked.

Bumblebee thought for a minute. "Not sure. But let's just... think about it when we get there."

"Okay."

 _ **X**_

"I _do not_ have time for this," Optimus muttered, swinging his axe, hoping to get Grimlock to back off. Luckily, the other two were nowhere to be found, but this angry Dinobot was enough for him. Especially when the jet twins decided to just sit and watch.

"Please, Grimlock," Prowl said, trying to appeal to him. They had a certain trust toward him, as he had first freed them, and then saved them from Meltdown. If anyone could talk Grimlock down, it would be Prowl.

"Truck robot bad!" the Dinobot yelled, readying his sword.

"No, no, truck robot good," the motorcycle told him, holding his hands out in a placating manner. Grimlock looked at him for a long time.

Finally putting his sword away, he said, "Only because bike robot say so." He glared at Optimus. "But me, Grimlock still no like you."

"That's fine," Optimus said plainly.

"Now," Prowl began. "Have you seen two other robots run through here? A yellow one and a green one, about this tall?" He approximated their height.

The Dinobot thought for a moment. "Yes. Me, Grimlock see tiny robots."

"Which way did they go?" the young ninja asked.

Grimlock pointed in the direction Bumblebee and Wasp had run.

"Thank you, Grimlock."

"Truck robot leave and no come back," he said adamantly.

"I have no problem with that," Optimus said with a sigh. How Prowl got along with them so well, he would never know. "Alright, let's go get Wasp and Bumblebee."

Jazz looked at Jetfire and Jetstorm. "Why don't you guys go airborne and take a look. They might've made it to the beach."

"Yes, Mr. Jazz, sir!" they both said, standing, saluting, and transforming, taking off into the air above the trees.

"Maybe we should scan for their signals," Prowl suggested.

"Yeah," Bulkhead agreed. "Bumblebee's fast, but without being able to transform, he shouldn't be out of range yet, right?"

"Good idea, both of you," Optimus said, and each ran their own scan. Each turned up nothing.

"Those little slagger's must have scrambled their signals!" Ratched grumbled. "Now how are we supposed to find them?"

"If they were on their way to the beach, they'll be underwater by now," Prowl pointed out. "Should we wait until they come up?"

"They could just keep going and end up in Ohio," Bulkhead dejectedly pointed out. His best friend had abandoned him and the team for... a fugitive. Why?

Optimus thought for a moment. "I have an idea. Jazz, can you call Jetfire and Jetstorm back here?"

"On it," the older ninja said. Once they returned, they stood at attention. "Alright, you two. Right now, OP's your CO, alright?"

Both automatically turned to face Optimus. "Alright, Jetfire, Jetstorm, you take Prowl across the lake to Ohio. That way, someone will be waiting for them there. Can you do that?"

"Yes, sir, Optimus Prime, sir!" they said. "But... we need beach to take off if we are to be bringing Prowl with us."

"Well, let's... just go then," Optimus said with a sigh as they began their trek through the forest. What had Bumblebee managed to get himself into now, and why did he have to drag the rest of them into it?

 **So... yeah. Bee actually had the good idea to scramble their signals, but Optimus already has a counter plan. Will the jet twins and Prowl get to Ohio in time to stop Bumblebee and Wasp? Will they be able to get the cuffs off? And will Bumblebee's prediction come true? Guess you'll just have to find out next time.**

 **See you on the flipside~ Elisa out~**


	4. Chapter 4

**Alright, recap of the last chapter: Bumblebee and Wasp are now on the run from the Elite Guard and team Prime. They had a brief encounter with Grimlock, who they sent after Optimus to buy a little more time. Bumblebee and Wasp are in the middle of Lake Erie, on their way to Ohio, but Prowl and the jet twins are already on their way to intercept.**

"Why so far?" Wasp asked as they continued walking through the bottom of Lake Erie. "Bumblebot and Wasp rust before Bumblebot and Wasp get to Ohio."

"Let's hope not," Bumblebee said, trying to be positive. "First things first, we find cover. Then we'll dry off." He laughed a little. "At least we won't need to wash for awhile."

Wasp nodded with a small smile. It was reassuring to him that, while he was scared, terrified of going back to the stockades, Bumblebee was still able to make jokes, easing the tension a little. "Why lake so big?"

"It's called one of the _Great_ Lakes, so... believe it or not, it's the second smallest of five," Bumblebee informed him, adopting a teacher tone. He then grew serious. "We'll need to find some kind of empty warehouse or... ugh, forest, since we can't transform with these things." He held up the hand that was cuffed again.

"Yeah, that sound painful," Wasp agreed. He glanced up to see the surface nearing. "Bumblebot and Wasp almost out of lake!"

"Hello, Ohio, here we come!" Bumblebee said as his helm broke the surface. Glancing at the pier, he ducked back under the water. "Slag!" he yelled.

"What?"

"Prowl beat us here with those jets!" the yellow bot groaned. He glanced down. "Why did I have to have such a bright paint job?"

"Bumblebot, give Wasp helmet," the green bot requested.

"Huh?" his brother asked, but removed his helmet anyway, handing it over.

Wasp pressed a button inside the helmet, causing it to slightly change shape and color. Bumblebee looked down at himself to see him the same green as his brother. "Bumblebot no remove electronic paint job button, only disable. Wasp fix." He handed him back the helmet and smiled. "Now Bumblebot and Wasp match," he added with a laugh.

"Right," Bumblebee said with a grin. "And we blend in more." He looked up at the shore where he could vaguely see Prowl's outline. "Take that, ninja-bot!" He regretted his words immediately when Prowl descended, floating down to the lake floor fifty yards away.

"Bumblebee, hand over Wasp. I don't want to have to hurt you, but Wasp is dangerous." Prowl took out his throwing stars. "Don't make me use these."

"Sorry, Prowl, no can do," Bumblebee replied, reaching into his subspace and pulling out one of his thrusters. It hadn't completely cooled off yet, but it should have enough juice for his plan. Quickly attaching it to his right side, he planted his foot and looked at Wasp. "You might get a bit dizzy."

"Huh?" Wasp began, but his question was answered when Bumblebee activated the thruster, spinning them in circles to kick up sand and dirt, making visibility very difficult. Once he was satisfied, he put his finger to his lips, indicating that Wasp be quiet. He held his intakes, and his brother followed his lead. Hearing Prowl try to clear his own, Bumblebee pulled Wasp in the other direction, running along the pier, not further back into the lake. When he looked back, the kicked up dust was beginning to clear, but Prowl was nowhere in sight. He wasn't quite sure if that was good or bad.

Once he felt like they were in the clear, they slowed down with heavy intakes. "Wasp getting tired," Wasp reported.

"Me too, but I'm not so sure we're in the clear, yet." As soon as the words left his mouth, Bumblebee looked up to see the water beginning to swirl above them. "Oh, man... We gotta keep moving!" The water swirled faster and faster, and appeared to begin to rise. "Doesn't he know there aren't hurricanes in Ohio?" Bumblebee muttered. Abruptly, though, the swirling stopped as soon as it began. Prowl had probably warned Jetstorm about how much damage his little hurricane could do to the nearby human population.

The two green bots stood and waited. They could see two shapes above them, high in the sky as their shadows passed over them. They were flying the way Bumblebee and Wasp had been running, and Prowl couldn't be far behind. Due to their good camouflage, however, they were passed right over.

Wasp pointed back the way they came. "Bumblebot and Wasp head back that way."

"Yeah," Bumblebee agreed. "Good idea. I thought I saw a warehouse we can hide in."

As they made their way back, walking this time, Wasp watched his twin. Bumblebee had answered his question from before a little bit, but it still didn't make much sense. So he'd ask again. "Wasp do very bad thing to Bumblebot. So why Bumblebot help Wasp?"

Bumblebee stopped and looked back at him. "Yeah, you did some pretty bad things. I mean, you acted like a total glitch head in boot camp and tried to get me arrested and attacked me when I tried to help you." Wasp looked more and more depressed with every moment Bumblebee pointed out. "But, Wasp, at the end of the solar cycle, you're still my brother." He smiled. Wasp smiled back. Soon, they were back where they had come from, where Bumblebee had seen the warehouse. Poking his head above the surface, he looked around. "Coast is clear. No Prowl, not jet twins, no humans. Let's go."

Once the twins were inside the warehouse, they were finally able to relax a little.

"What now?" Wasp asked, sitting on the ground and leaning against the wall. "Bumblebot and Wasp run forever?"

"If we have to," Bumblebee told him. "I'm not letting them take you back, I promise. I am _so_ sorry I sent you there in the first place... But now, if we go down, we go down together."

"Wasp prefer not going down at all," Wasp said. He reached out to Bumblebee. "Bumblebot give Wasp helmet."

"Huh? Oh, right," Bumblebee said, handing him the helmet back. He'd seen the inside of it before giving it to his brother before, and it had gotten a bit more complicated that the last time it was used, somehow. He didn't know how to fix it, but he knew Wasp did. Wasp disabled the electronic paint and handed it back to his twin, who was yellow once again. "Thanks, Wasp." Wasp smiled in response. Bumblebee began to think. He didn't particularly _want_ to run forever, but there was no way he was giving Wasp up. But until Sentinel decided to drop whatever stupid charges he had against him, there was no way they'd be able to relax. They had to stay on guard at all times, just in case.

"Bluebot said Wasp innocent... but Sargebot still chasing Wasp... why?" Wasp asked. As usual, the two had an uncanny ability to know what the other was thinking about. They couldn't really read each other's minds, but the got the general idea of it.

"Bluebot...? You mean Prime?" Bumblebee sighed. "We all know you weren't the spy. Like I said, it was Longarm, who's really Shockwave. But you know, Sentinel being Sentinel, thinks for some reason that you know something about this whole Decepticon plot."

"Why? Wasp not Decepticon, and Wasp was in stockades."

"Exactly," Bumblebee agreed with a nod. "But he won't listen. _Then_ , when he finds out we were right, he just goes 'well, why didn't you say that in the first place'. Oh, Primus I feel bad for Jazz."

"Jazz?" Wasp asked, head tilted slightly in confusion.

"Yeah. He was that Elite Guard guy that cuffed us," the yellow bot explained. "He's not really a bad guy, he's just under orders from Sentinel. Especially now that Ultra Magnus is out of commission, so he's in charge." Wasp looked at him, even more confused. "Oh, boy, do I have a lot to catch you up on."

 _ **X**_

Prowl sighed, giving up his search. He had combed the waters of Lake Erie, as well as the nearby storage facilities, but there was no trace of Bumblebee and Wasp. "Prime?" he said through the comm link. "No sign of them. They were in Lake Erie, and he might still be down there, but I can't find him. Jetstorm and Jetfire are getting an aerial view, but they aren't having any luck, either."

He could hear Optimus sigh on the other side. "Alright. Come back, then. We need to think of a new strategy here, and it's better if we have everyone's processors on it."

"Understood," Prowl told him, cutting the connection. "Jetfire, Jetstorm! We're heading back," he called up to the jets.

"But we have not found fugitives," Jetstorm said as they landed, frowning slightly.

"And I doubt we will." Prowl sighed. "They're either back, deep in the lake or long gone, considering how long we've been scouring this area. Prime wants us to return to base."

"Okay," the twins said together, transforming and joining. Prowl jumped on them, couching and holding onto one of the wings for stability, not tight enough to change their course, but not loose enough to fall.

"What have you gotten yourself into this time, Bumblebee?" the ninja muttered as they flew over the lake.

 **In case you're wondering why they didn't find Bee and Wasp while searching the warehouses, remember, they're** _ **way**_ **down the pier. And if you're also wondering about what Sari's doing during this, well... you'll see next time.**

 **See ya on the flipside~ Elisa out~**


	5. Chapter 5

**Recap time~ So, last time Bee and Wasp were in Lake Erie and when they got close to the piers in Ohio, Prowl and the jet twins found them. They managed to escape and are holed up in a warehouse. Meanwhile, Prowl, Jetfire, and Jetstorm are now on their way back to base to try to come up with a better plan to apprehend both of them.**

"We need to find a way to get these things off," Bumblebee muttered, looking down at the stasis cuffs binding them together. It wasn't bad to be close to his twin brother, but they couldn't transform like this, so they stuck out like sore thumbs. They needed to be able to transform into vehicle mode if they were going to get any further. He changed his right servo into a stinger, pointing at the cuffs. When he saw Wasp just staring at him, he said, "Aren't you gonna help?"

"Bumblebot no break stasis cuffs," the green bot said, shaking his head. "These high-grade stasis cuff. Indestructible."

"We already shorted them out," Bumblebee argued. "So who says we can't break them?"

Wasp sighed. "That different," he said simply, leaving it at that.

"Well, I'm trying anyway," the yellow bot informed him before aiming the stinger. All that happened was a bunch of tiny flying sparks. "Okay, that didn't work."

"Wasp _told_ Bumblebot..." Was pointed out.

"Oh, you shut up, Waspy," Bumblebee said with a grin, using his old nickname for his brother.

Wasp was about to argue against that nickname, since he hated it, but paused. Bumblebee had called him Waspy when he tried to calm him down in Detroit, before the Waspinator incident, but before then... He hadn't heard Bumblebee say that since before boot camp... back when they were a lot closer. "Wasp missed Bumblebot," he confessed. Hidden deep under the resentment, hurt, and desire for revenge, he missed his brother a lot. He felt more alone than he ever had, being far away from Bumblebee and knowing that he thought he was a traitor.

"I missed you, too, buddy," Bumblebee told him. "Now, let's not get all mushy or I'll throw up," he joked. Wasp rolled his optics, smiling. As always, Bumblebee was a pain in the aft, but that was okay. He'd grown up with him.

"Maybe Bumblebot can convince Elite Guard to let Wasp go?" Wasp suggested, trying to figure a way out their predicament.

Bumblebee laughed. "Oh, I wish. But, like I said, Sentinel's in charge. If I could talk to Ultra Magnus, _maybe_ we could convince him, but..."

"Shockwave attack Ultra Magnus," Wasp said, remembering what his brother had told him. "And Shockwave is Longarm and set Wasp up?"

"That's right," the yellow twin said with a nod. "You know that whole extending his limbs thing? I think that's part of some kind of shape changing ability. You know, so he didn't look like a Decepticon."

"Make sense," Wasp said with a nod. "Wasp want revenge on Decepticon spy."

"Me too," Bumblebee agreed. "But first, let's get this whole thing straightened out, alright? One step at a time."

Wasp was about to say something, but yawned instead. His twin just laughed. "Tired?" he asked.

The green twin wanted to argue, but now that the adrenagon was fading, he was getting exhausted. All the running was taking its toll on him. "Wasp need sleep," he said simply.

"Go ahead," Bumblebee said. "I'll stand watch."

"But what about Bumblebot?" Wasp asked.

"When I get too tired, I can just wake you. Someone needs to stay on guard, right?" Bumblebee looked out one of the windows. "And it's barely 3:00. Man, this was a long day."

Wasp nodded, just about to shutter his optics when a loud boom resounded outside, causing both bots to look up. Bumblebee pulled Wasp along and opened the door a bit, peeking out. He didn't believe his optics.

"What the frag is Starscream doing here in Ohio?" he muttered.

"I know you're there, Autobots!" the Decepticon yelled. "Come out!"

"Seriously?" Bumblebee muttered before looking at Wasp. "You okay for this?"

Wasp nodded, adrenagon slowly pumping through his systems again. "That Starscream?" he asked, remembering what Bumblebee had told him he missed. One of those things was Starscream, the Decepticon who betrayed Megatron, going after the Allspark himself. The Decepticon that was immortal.

"Yep," Bumblebee said with a nod. "We gotta get out there, or innocent people are gonna get hurt." Wasp nodded and they both left the warehouse. "Hey, Screamer! Looking for us?"

"Ah, there you are!" the Seeker said with a grin, looking down at them. "So, it's true. Two Autobots, so far from home, here in Ohio." His optics landed on Wasp. "I... don't think I know you. But whatever! Prepare to join your friend Blurr in the Well of Allsparks!"

Bumblebee froze. Blurr was.. offline? "How would you know about that?" he asked icily. Wasp gave him a confused look. He hadn't really mentioned anyone named Blurr.

"Oh, you know, I have my ways," he said with a smirk. "Such as hacking into Megatron's private communication network! But enough talking!" He raised his arms, ready to fire his missiles.

Wasp looked at Bumblebee, not sure what to do. He'd never faced a Decepticon in combat, except Blackarachnia, as Waspinator.

"Follow my lead!" Bumblebee yelled, running to the side, dragging Wasp with him.

"Wasp no have choice," the green twin commented. The two had managed to dodge the missiles.

Changing both hands into stingers, he nodded to Wasp, who did the same. "Follow me lead," he repeated, raising both arms and pointing them at Starscream. This dragged up Wasp's right arm, but he lifted his left one as well. "Now!" he yelled and the twins fired together, aiming straight for the Decepticon's chest plates. With the pure strength of their attacks, Starscream was knocked back several yards before righting himself.

"I will terminate you both!" he yelled, once again aiming his missiles. Bumblebee looked around to see the crowd assembling around them. Not good. Outside of Detroit, Cybertronians weren't exactly well known. Sooner or later, camera drones would show up and display them on the news. If the Autobots back at base were filtering through the news for reports of 'giant robots', they'd be found out in an instant.

"Oh, yeah?" Bumblebee asked. "Shouldn't you be harassing Megatron or trying to go after the Allspark or something? Or did one of your little plans fail and you need to blow off some steam?"

"Nobody asked you!" he yelled, firing again. Both bots once again moved out of the way, heading for a nearby forest. If they could just get Starscream out into the woods, where he wouldn't be a danger to humans, they could take care of this nice and quickly. Both twins broke out into a run, noticing Starscream following them. Right according to plan. Once they were in the forest, which wasn't too dense, they turned and looked at the Decepticon. He fired two missiles again, and the brothers nodded at each other.

Bumblebee raised his right stinger at the missile coming in on their right, while Wasp aimed his left stinger at the missile coming in on their left. And both twins had their cuffed stingers pointed at Starscream. When the blasts from the stingers met the missiles, they exploded, causing an already damaged Starscream to be shot back further into the air. The Seeker stared down at his frame, and then at the Autobots. He couldn't believe he was being beaten by two tiny Autobots, but at the same time, he was quite worn out from his flight from Detroit. He'd find somewhere in this 'Ohio' to hole up and regain his strength before striking again. Getting Bumblebee out of the way would weaken Optimus Prime's team, making it easier for him to steal whatever fragments they had of the Allspark.

Watching him fly off, Bumblebee sighed. Laughing a little, he looked at Wasp and said, "Told you we'd run into a Decepticon today."

 _ **X**_

"Where's Bee?" Sari asked, looking at the other Autobots when they returned to base, accompanied by Jazz, Jetstorm, and Jetfire. They had been gone for hours without telling her where they went.

"It's... complicated, Sari," Optimus began. "He's—"

"In Toledo, Ohio," Ratchet announced, scanning the news. Turning on the television, he brought up a news report of 'giant robots' fighting near some docks in Toledo, before running off into a forest. "The little slaggers couldn't even keep quiet."

"Now that we know where they are, shouldn't we go after them?" Bulkhead asked.

Optimus sighed. "I think, right now, we need rest. If it keeps up like this, they're bound to be in the news again."

"Um, hello? What's going on?" Sari asked, crossing her arms.

"Put simply, Bumblebee's a fugitive," Prowl said. At her surprised look, he said, "You remember when we told you about Wasp, the suspected traitor?"

"The one that's really innocent but Sentinel Prime's still after?" Sari asked. "Yeah, I remember."

"He's back, and because Bumblebee protected him and helped him escape, he's a fugitive, too," Bulkhead answered. "What I don't get, though, is why he was helping Wasp. I mean, last I checked, they hated each other."

Jetfire and Jetstorm looked at each other before looking at the rest of the group.

"Is not obvious?" Jetfire asked, honestly surprised.

"Is... _what_ not obivous?" Ratchet asked.

"Yeah," Jazz commented. "Spill."

"They are twins," the jets said together.

"Come again?" Prowl asked.

"They are twins," Jetstorm informed them. "That is why he is protective of him."

"He is only protecting his brother," Jetfire agreed.

Bulkhead simply stared. Bumblebee and Wasp... Were they really...? But... in boot camp... He sighed. There was only one way to find out the whole story.

Find Bumblebee and Wasp.

 **Yep. Sari's been wondering where they were. And Bee's having good ideas! What is this madness?! What's going to happen next? Stay tuned~**

 **See ya on the flipside~ Elisa out~**


	6. Chapter 6

**Recap: Bee and Wasp got attacked by Starscream, but they managed to defeat him. Unfortunately, they were caught on camera, making the news for the Autobots to see. Thanks to Jetfire and Jetstorm, they know Bee and Wasp are twins. Said twins are currently in a forest.**

Bumblebee looked around for a moment before dragging Wasp deeper into the forest. The further in they were, the less likely they were to get caught. Once he felt they were safe, they both sat down, leaning against a pair of trees.

"So..." Wasp began, remembering something Starscream had said. "Who Blurr?"

Bumblebee sighed. "Blurr was a friend. I mean, we didn't know him long, but... he helped us. Bulkhead got kidnapped by Megatron because he knew a lot about space bridges." Wasp nodded, remembering what Bulkhead had said his dream was when they were all asked by Sentinel so long ago. "We didn't know why, but then we got some good intel from Blurr. He led us to the Decepticon base, and managed to get some stasis cuffs on Blitzwing and Lugnut faster than I ever could. He got cemented, I think, to these two Starscream clones, and they were sent through a space bridge. I don't know where they ended up, but if Starscream was telling the truth... Well, then..." He sighed. "He also saved my aft even before I knew he was an Autobot. There was this racing thing run by this really shady guy who was initially controlling him. Our human friend, Sari, managed to get the control, so he was free. Then Blitzwing was after us, since there was an Allspark fragment in it. Blurr found some kind of ramp and basically played chicken with him. He peeled off pretty fast and didn't come back until our next battle."

"So... Now Blurr offline. Does Bumblebot know who?" Wasp asked.

"Not for sure, but I've got some suspicions..." Bumblebee said with a sigh. "Blurr was able to pick up on a communications frequency between Megatron and Shockwave, so he knew your voice didn't match. Since 'Longarm' was the head of intelligence, he was probably Blurr's CO. So when he reported that it wasn't you... Shockwave probably figured out that Blurr would find out and expose him soon, so he... you know."

"Wasp sorry," his twin said, putting his free hand on his shoulder. "Now Bumblebot and Wasp _both_ get revenge on Shockwave."

"Yeah." Bumblebee nodded. "For what you went through, and for Blurr." Deciding to veer the conversation away from the depressing topic, he said, "It's good to have you back, Wasp."

"Wasp glad to be back," the green bot said.

Bumblebee looked around, once again trying to plan their next escape route. "We can't stay in this forest forever," he said. "And we're probably going to need some kind of fuel soon. I hate having to do this, but we might have to steal some... So we find an oil place, and then head east, maybe? If the others start to get on our trails, we can go a little more north and hide in Lake Ontario." At Wasp's blank look, he added, "It's another Great Lake." He sighed. "We need to get these cuffs off so we can blend in more, but I can't pick them." He looked at his brother. "Can you?"

"Wasp was in stockades. Bumblebot think Wasp would stay so long if Wasp could pick lock?" he asked, raised an optic ridge.

"Oh, right. Sorry." He started thinking. Who could possibly pick a stasis cuff lock, but not freak out or report them to someone? No one came to mind. "Ehhh... I hate this."

"Wasp sorry..."

"Sorry for what? Breaking out of prison? You didn't deserve to be there in the first place," Bumblebee pointed out. "If anything, _I'm_ the one who screwed up." Wasp laughed a little. "What?"

"Wasp and Bumblebot do lots of apologizing," he said. Bumblebee took a moment to think over the last few hours before laughing with him.

"Okay, let's make an agreement," Bumblebee said, holding out his free servo toward his brother. "No more apologizing for all that old stuff."

Wasp raised his own free servo and shook Bumblebee's. "Deal," he agreed.

"Good." Bumblebee began looking around. The sun was beginning to set. "So... where to, now?"

"Bumblebot say east," Wasp reminded him.

"Yeah, but not immediately. We need to get away from populated areas. Stick to the woods and stuff." He pointed in the direction opposite the lights from the city. "Onward!" he joked, turning on his headlights, Wasp doing the same. They walked in silence for several minutes.

"Bumblebot?" Wasp finally said.

"Yeah, Waspy?" Bumblebee asked, scanning the area for any humans while still giving his brother most of his attention.

"Wasp no want to run forever," the greet bot said sadly. "Wasp want to be free..."

"I know," Bumblebee told him softly, looking over at him with a soft smile. "We'll get this sorted out, somehow. And even if we don't, at least you're not alone."

Wasp nodded, feeling just a little bit better. It was true. He may still be a 'dangerous' fugitive on the run from the Elite Guard, but he didn't feel so alone anymore. Having Bumblebee there gave him hope.

"Thanks, Bumblebot," Wasp told him with a soft smile of his own.

Whatever they were in for, they were in for it together.

 _ **X**_

"Them being twins shouldn't excuse what Bumblebee did," Ratchet grumbled.

"But they're brothers," Sari commented. "Family. And family looks out for each other, right?" She looked at her own second 'family'. They had always had each other's backs. Why couldn't they understand why Bumblebee had Wasp's?

"That's what I don't get," Bulkhead said. "Back in the Academy, Wasp looked like he hated both of us. If he was Bumblebee's twin, why would he do that? Not very brother-like, if you ask me."

"Whatever the reason, that doesn't change the fact that they seem to be closer now. I had hoped to be able to get Bumblebee to listen, but now it seems like that won't be an option."

"So, what, you're just going to arrest Bumblebee?" Sari asked, incredulous.

"Look, I don't want to do it, either, but if it's the only way to bring in Wasp..." Jazz said with a sigh. "Orders are orders. And these come straight from the top."

"We are not wanting to separate brothers," Jetfire said. He looked at Jetstorm. Both seemed to be conflicted. They had their orders to apprehend Wasp, and now by extension, Bumblebee. But once they were taken to the stockades, they would most likely be separated, probably kept on opposite sides. They knew better than anyone that brothers shouldn't be split up like that, especially twins.

"We don't have a choice," Optimus said with a sigh. "We have to go tell Fanzone. He might be able to contact the police in Ohio. If they manage to get those cuffs off, we could lose them." They had seen in the news report that the twins were still attached.

"What I don't get is how they're both conscious," Ratchet muttered. "The power of those stasis cuffs should have been enough to put both of them down at once."

"That's not what's important right now," Optimus pointed out, already connecting to Fanzone's phone line. "Captain Fanzone? I need a favor."

"A favor?" the machine-hating human asked.

"Yes. I need you to somehow get word to the authorities in Ohio to keep an eye out for Wasp and Bumblebee, both in robot mode and vehicle mode."

After a moment of thinking, Fanzone sighed. "Alright, I'll see what I can do."

 **Well, at least the excessive apologies are going to stop. I know there wasn't much action in this chapter, but there was no need for a battle of any kind. Anyway, we'll see what happens next time.**

 **See ya on the flipside~ Elisa out~**


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay, now I'm dropping in a few characters from other continuities, such as Smokescreen and Dreadwing. It helps make a little more sense as to why there are Autobots and Decepticons in Ohio and beyond. (Please note that since the 'extras' are from Prime, so I'm basically using their personalities from that.)**

 **Okay, anyway, recap: Bee filled Wasp in more on what he missed, mostly regarding Blurr since Starscream had brought it up. The twins are trying to figure out a way to escape and where to go. Meanwhile, Sari's trying to convince the other Bots not to arrest Bee for helping Wasp, since he's only protecting his brother. The jet twins agree with her.**

"Hey, you close to the Earth sector?"

"Yeah. Sentinel didn't trust you guys to get Wasp on your own, so I'm on my way. No offense, or anything."

"None taken. It's just Sentinel being Sentinel. Look, don't drop in on our coordinates. We already lost them."

"Them?"

"Wasp has a twin here, and they're both gone. I'm sending you some possible coordinates where you might be able to find them."

"Got it."

 _ **X**_

"I guess being small comes in handy sometimes," Bumblebee whispered as he and Wasp crouched down, having entered a storage facility full of barrels of oil. Not exactly a safe place, but they needed to refuel if they were going to continue on their way. They needed to be as inconspicuous as possible, just in case some worker or security guard came through. When they crouched, they were just shorter than the stacks of barrels.

Bumblebee scanned the area for loose barrels, ones that people might not immediately know were missing. "There!" he said quietly, leading Wasp to the corner left of the door. There were a few barrels just lying around, seeming to be forgotten about. They each reached for one, helping the other pop them open.

The barrels were almost empty when they heard a scream. Looking down, they saw a human in a security outfit, staring up at them in fear. Either she had never seen an alien robot, or, more likely, all she had seen of them was their battle with Starscream. These humans here in Ohio had no idea that they were the good guys.

"No, wait, wait, we're good guys, seriously!" Bumblebee insisted, raising his hands in surrender. Looking at his brother for a second, Wasp did the same with his remaining hand. Bumblebee glanced down at the now empty pair of oil barrels. "I can explain!"

"Uh... I need some backup here," the guard said into her radio. "You won't believe me, but those, uh, alien robots that were in the news yesterday. They're in the warehouse. What should I do?"

Wasp looked at Bumblebee. "Bumblebot and Wasp run?"

"Bumblebot and Wasp run," the yellow bot said with a nod before turning and booking it, once again dragging Wasp behind in his sudden speed. "I really hope we're not in the news again..." Bumblebee muttered. "They probably already know we're here, so it's just a matter of time. We need to keep moving."

Wasp nodded, speeding up to match his twin's pace. "Keep heading east?" he asked.

"Sounds like a plan," the yellow twin said as they reached the trees. He glanced behind them to see people already coming out with flashlights. "We should turn our headlights off," he said. "We're too noticeable."

Wasp nodded and they both did so. Moving quietly to the right, veering off the path they had taken, they watched the humans blast right past them, still looking ahead.

"Wasp need recharge..." the green bot said. It had been a long day, and he had gotten very little full rest.

"Let's just go a little further, and we can find a place to stay for the night. I can take first watch," Bumblebee offered, receiving a thankful look from his brother.

It took only a few minutes before they found a denser part of the forest. They would just be able to fit, but no other Autobot or Decepticon would be able to. And the humans wouldn't think to look for them there, thinking they wouldn't have fit. "Alright, Waspy," he said with a smile, sitting as the green bot did. "Go ahead and get some recharge."

"Thanks, Bumblebot," Wasp replied tiredly, immediately dropping into recharge.

Bumblebee leaned back against one of the trees and sighed. In less than twenty four hours, a lot had changed for him. This morning, he was still a member of 'Team Prime', about to get his brother back. Next thing he knew, the two of them were on the run. They couldn't stop to explain themselves, since Sentinel's orders were to be carried out to a 't'. He was very particular and it was always his way or the high way. A small part of him had been glad when he was booted out, since he wouldn't have to take orders from the stuck-up Autobot.

He glanced over at his brother. Wasp was innocent, and he couldn't believe he'd doubted it for so long. Now, to make it right, he was going to do everything he could to get all charges dropped so that Wasp could be a free mech again.

It was early in the morning when Wasp woke up. Bumblebee's processor had been working too fast for him to get any recharge, so he decided to just let Wasp rest. "How do you feel?" Bumblebee asked him.

"Better," Wasp said with a stretch, though it was slightly awkward with the stasis cuffs. He glanced at them and glared. "Bumblebot right. Wasp and Bumblebot need remove stasis cuffs."

"Yeah, I wish I knew someone who could—" A certain mech immediately came to mind, making him feel like an idiot for not thinking of this sooner. Not that it would do them any good. "Wait..." he said slowly. "I might know someone. But, I doubt he'd be willing to help us."

"Why?" Wasp asked, studying his twin.

"Well, for one, he's a Decepticon," Bumblebee began. "Secondly, he hates my guts."

 _ **X**_

"Giant... robots?" Officer Barton asked, holding his phone to his ear with his shoulder as he moved things around on his desk. Being an officer in the Waynesburg Police Department meant that he typically didn't have much work to do. Not much really happened in Waynesburg. That's when he had gotten a phone call from his old friend, Captain Fanzone from Detroit. "You're not serious, are you?"

Fanzone sighed and Barton got the feeling he was pinching the bridge of his nose. "Look, I know it sounds nuts, but if you just search the news for Autobots, trust me, you won't miss them. Two them are fugitives, and they managed to escape."

"And what are we supposed to do about it?" Barton asked. "I mean, if they're giant robots, I doubt bullets would do much."

"You're right, but we got some more robots here ready to take them back into custody, so if you could just, I dunno, put up a blockade or something if they head your way, it'll give them time to get there. They won't risk hurting humans, trust me," Fanzone assured him.

"Okay. I thought you—"

"Hated machines?" Fanzone asked. "I do. Trust me, I do. But these guys aren't all bad. Well, most of them. Anyway, the two you're looking for are green and yellow. They can usually turn into cars, but I guess they got cuffed or something and can't now. Just... keep an eye out, and let me know if anything comes up."

"Will do," Barton replied, booting up his computer to look up these 'Autobots'. If Fanzone was right, then he needed to read up on them. He wanted to be prepared.

 **Yeah, Officer Barton was a last minute OC, but I doubt he'll have much of a role here. Fanzone called his friend from Pennsylvania because the Autobots predicted that Bee and Wasp would be headed east, so they figured that if they made it through Ohio, then Pennsylvania should be prepared.**

 **And who can guess who Bumblebee was thinking about? (This is a 'special' update 'requirement'. I want a few guesses as to who Bumblebee has in mind. Don't be afraid to guess wrong, I just wanna know what you guys are thinking. And if that happens in the first two reviews, great~)**

 **See ya on the flipside~ Elisa out~**


	8. Chapter 8

**Recap: A new, currently unnamed Autobot is heading to Earth to intercept Wasp and Bee. They had to steal some oil for fuel but were found out by a security guard, so they're running. Again. Bumblebee remembered someone who could get their stasis cuffs off, but he doubts this someone would do it. Meanwhile, Fanzone contacted a friend in Waynesburg, PA to keep an eye out for the twins.**

Swindle sat back on his tires, watching a particular human leave an office building. He'd been watching the fleshy for awhile and decided that he may make a valuable customer. The human was an army official of some sort, and he'd been vying for some more destructive weapons, but to no avail. Naturally, Swindle could procure these goods, and the man's mother was the head of her own company, the building the army man had just walked out of. It shouldn't be too hard to get his servos on whatever he desired. All it would take was a few calls. Lockdown was in the area, he believed. But he had to act now, before the human got away. A car driving itself could only get so far.

Beginning to pull out of the parking lot, he was stalled by the ping of his communications network. "Yes?" he asked.

 _"Hey, uh, Swindle? I, uh... I need a favor."_

"How on Cybertron did you get this frequency?" he asked as soon as he heard Bumblebee's voice. Then the words sunk it. "Why would _I_ do _you_ a favor? I seem to recall a certain Autobot using a time piece to freeze up my systems."

 _"Technically, you used it, I just—not the point. I'm in a bit of a jam..."_

"I ask again, what reason could I _possibly_ have to do you a favor?" he asked. "I mean, what's in it for me?"

 _"Uh... the pleasure of fragging with the Elite Guard? Helping a wanted fugitive escape?"_ He sounded desperate.

Swindle paused. It _would_ be nice to frag over the Elite Guard. And once he arrived, he could easily set a price then. With an internal smirk, he said, "Ping me your coordinates and I'll be _right_ over."

 _ **X**_

"I can't believe I've sunk so low..." Bumblebee muttered, covering his face with his right servo.

"What Bumblebot mean?" Wasp asked, confused.

Bumblebee sighed. "Well, Swindle's a con I fought one time, and I beat him pretty badly. Unfortunately, there's a good chance he has something that can unlock these." He once again held up the servo connected to the cuffs.

They only had to wait a few minutes before what appeared to be a swirling green vortex appeared in front of them. Swindle stepped out and it closed behind him. A pair of small, circular devices withdrew under his chest plates. "You like? Portable ground bridge generators. They're no space bridge, but they're very convenient for long distance travel on a single planet." He walked over to them. "So, what can I do for you boys today?"

Bumblebee showed him the stasis cuffs. "Got anything to get these off?"

Swindle leaned in and studied them for a moment. His optics widened. "These are some seriously high grade cuffs. What did you do, kill Ultra Magnus?"

"Sentinel has a habit of overreacting, and he's in charge now. This is all a huge misunderstanding and it would be _great_ if you had something to get these things off."

Swindle began an inventory scan. "Like I asked before, what's in it for me if I get these off you? You can't expect me to do it for free."

Bumblebee sighed. "Do I _look_ like I have access to my credits? I'm running from the Elite Guard! You were just the only one I know who might be able to do it. Well, maybe Lockdown, but he'd take my stingers."

Swindle thought for a moment. He did like the idea of fragging with the Elite Guard but there was no way he was giving out a freebie, especially to an Autobot who almost ruined him. Finally coming across a stasis lock skeleton key he'd bought off a poor sucker on the black market who had no idea how much it was really worth, he pulled it from his subspace. Looking up, he noticed Bumblebee's stare. "What?"

"You're a freaking cash register," the yellow bot said plainly before laughing hysterically.

"I could leave you in those _and_ send an 'anonymous tip' to the Elite Guard on where you are," Swindle said pointedly, effectively shutting the Autobot up. "Now... your payment?"

Bumblebee looked at Wasp, hoping for ideas. "Wasp no have money, either," he pointed out.

"I know that," his twin argued. "Any ideas?"

"Uh..." Wasp thought for a moment. Coming up with nothing, he looked at Swindle. "Salesbot take IOU?"

The con usually didn't take IOUs, so he was about to deny them outright before a thought occurred to him. He could have something to hold over an _Autobot_. One who had connections with a Prime _and_ the Elite Guard. There were a lot of things Decepticons everywhere would pay a fortune for! Perhaps just this once... "Alright," he said with a smirk that Bumblebee wasn't too fond of. "I'll get you two uncuffed. But trust me when I say, I _will_ be coming to collect." With that, he inserted the skeleton key into the cuffs and a long moment passed before they opened, freeing the twins. Grabbing the cuffs and storing them in his subspace as a 'down payment', Swindle turned. "Pleasure doing business with you, boys." With that, he opened another ground bridge and exited through it, closing it behind him.

"Well, that was fun," Bumblebee said sarcastically. "Good thing he decided to help, right, Wasp?" No answer. "Waspy?" he asked again, turning to the side.

Wasp was gone.

 _ **X**_

"We've just gotten reports of 'two giant robots' stealing oil from a warehouse," Prowl said, having just finished scanning internet news articles.

"Stealing? That doesn't sound like Bee at all..." Sari said with a frown.

Ratchet sighed. "Well, the youngling needs _some_ kind of fuel, and I doubt he has access to any kind of energon wherever he is."

"Do you know where the warehouse is?" Optimus asked the ninja.

"They're still in Ohio," he reported. "Fremont, it looks like."

Optimus looked at Jazz. "Is that close to where you sent whoever's coming?"

Jazz pulled up a map of Ohio in his CPU. "Yeah, just about fifty miles away. But if they keep heading east... He'll find them in no time."

 **Yeah... I know a lot of these chapters have moved very fast, so chapter two was really the only longer one, but since each chapter kinda focuses on a specific thing, I have difficulty drawing it out. In this case, it's getting their cuffs off, and when it comes to profit, Swindle doesn't need much convincing. And you can bet he's already sending a message to his usual clients that he might have access to anything of interest from the Elite Guard.**

 **We'll find out who this mystery bot is in the next chapter, so hopefully more action. And poor Bee. Even after what they went through together, Wasp still abandons him.**

 **See ya on the flipside~ Elisa out~**


	9. Chapter 9

**Recap: Bumblebee managed to contact Swindle and convince him to uncuff him and Wasp. Now, they owe him. But Wasp ran off as soon as they were free. Meanwhile, it looks like that Autobot Jazz contacted is about to have a little encounter.**

Bumblebee couldn't believe it. After what they'd been through within the last twenty-four hours, Wasp had just... left. "Why?" he whispered. He shook his head. Maybe Wasp was still upset about the arrest thing, even though he acted like he wasn't. Bumblebee wouldn't blame him.

But they had a better chance of finding a way out of this together. He knew the Autobots were far away, but if Starscream was still somewhere around? Wasp was a good fighter, but he didn't have much experience fighting Decepticons, especially not ones as fast as Starscream. As incompetent as he seemed, he was actually a good strategist. Megatron was just better, and the Autobots were good at thinking on their feet.

Transforming, he raced out of the forest and onto the nearest road. It felt good to roll on his tires again. It was an empty dirt road, and he was grateful for the space. He was forced to slam on his brakes when he saw a large shadow overhead. Decepticon? It shot past him and landed a half mile ahead. Transforming back into his robot mode, Bumblebee took a step back, readying his stingers for battle.

He watched as a blue and yellow Cybertronian vehicle with the Elite Guard insignia on its hood raced toward him. As soon as it was close enough, it transformed.

"You must be the fugitive, Bumblebee," the new mech said. "Where's Wasp? I thought you two were cuffed together."

"We got free," Bumblebee replied sharply, raising his stingers a bit higher. "And I couldn't tell you where Wasp is. He ran off. I don't know where to." His optics narrowed. "And even if I did know, I'd never tell you!"

The mech sighed. "Well, if that's how it's going to be..." He tapped a device on his wrist. "Then so be it." He charged at Bumblebee, but when he tried to use his stingers, the blasts went right through him.

"What the...?" The yellow bot was abruptly cut off by an elbow to the face. He tried to make a grab for the mech, but his hand went right through him.

"Phase shifter," he was told with a grin. "Courtesy of the Elite Guard."

The phase shifter sounded familiar. And he knew there was an Autobot in the Elite Guard equipped with it. What was his name...? "Smokescreen!" he yelled.

"You got it," he said, coming in for another attack, letting Bumblebee's stinger go right through his head. "That would've hurt." As soon as he found an opening, he came in and struck, kneeing Bumblebee in the side. "Look, from what I know, you were just trying to protect the _real_ fugitive. So if you just come quietly and help us find him, we could probably get all the charges on you dropped. Sound fair?"

Bumblebee glared. "No!" he yelled. "You're asking me to sell out my own brother!" He ducked under a punch from the mech who was only slightly larger than him. Going low, he made for a sweep of Smokescreen's legs, but the Elite Guard member was prepared. Bumblebee's leg went right through his, but as soon as it was clear, Smokescreen kicked it up, causing Bumblebee to flip and land on his aft. "No way..." he muttered. Not even a Decepticon could take him out that quickly.

His face hardened. He wasn't going down that easily. As soon as the stasis cuffs left Smokescreen's subspace, Bumblebee pressed his back to the dirt road and revved his engine. "See ya!" he yelled, offering a cocky wave before speeding off past his pursuer. Hearing the familiar sounds of a transformation, he picked up the speed, working his systems as fast and hard as he could. He'd seen Smokescreen's alt mode. It was a racer model. He could get really close, really fast. If Bumblebee had had time to put on his turbo boosters, escaping him would have been no problem, but as it was, he just hoped that Smokescreen wore out before he did.

Of course, Bumblebee had been on the move practically nonstop, whereas Smokescreen had probably gotten plenty of recharge on his way to Earth. Deciding to stay and fight, he stood and spun, ready to meet whatever Smokescreen had in store for him. The Elite Guard stopped right in front of him. When he transformed, he was so close that their chest plates were almost touching. Taking a single step back so that he had room to move, Smokescreen placed his hands on his hips. "Ready to listen to reason?"

Bumblebee clenched his servos. "You'll never get Wasp, not if I can help it. He's innocent, and Sentinel's nuts if he thinks he can keep this chase up forever."

"It think you're the one who's nuts," Smokescreen said with a raised optic ridge. "I mean, come on. Two bots against the _entire_ Elite Guard? You two never stood a chance. Sorry to say this, Bumblebee, but you're under arrest for assisting a fugitive escape arrest." Pulling out his stasis cuffs, he took the short step needed to reach Bumblebee's servos.

At the last minute, the yellow bot's leg shot out, kicking Smokescreen in the knee, causing it to buckle for a second. Bumblebee didn't waste any time, taking the stasis cuffs and putting them on his pursuer. "Sorry, pal, but I'm not going to the big house." With that, he transformed and sped off, with one thought on his processor:

 _Find Wasp._

 _ **X**_

"How hard is it to get a hold of two little Autobots?" Ratchet growled.

"Emphasis on the 'little'," Bulkhead added.

Optimus looked over at Jazz, who seemed to be answering a comm link. "Any news?"

"Yeah, but it ain't good," the white mech said. "Smokescreen found Bumblebee, but he and Wasp aren't together anymore. They must've found some way to get uncuffed."

"Can't Smokescreen just follow after Bumblebee?" Prowl asked. "He must have more energy. Bumblebee's been running for an entire day."

Jazz put a hand to his faceplates. "Can't. Bee managed to stasis cuff him."

"What?!" Ratchet yelled. "How in the Pit did _our_ Bumblebee get the drop on an _Elite Guard_?"

"Especially Smokescreen," Bulkhead commented. "Wasn't he given that phase shifter thing? Bumblebee shouldn't be able to touch him."

"Evidently he managed to time it right," Optimus said with a sigh.

Sari looked at her friends for a long time. They were upset that they hadn't managed to capture Bumblebee yet, but in truth, she was glad. Bumblebee did nothing wrong, so he shouldn't be hunted down like some criminal. Wasp, maybe. But now that they weren't stuck together, couldn't they just leave him out of it? Why not just go after Wasp?

Sari sighed. She just didn't understand.

 **Yeah, Smokescreen's main weapon here is the phase shifter since in Prime, that was kinda his signature thing. But because of that, he is more versed in close combat. Luckily, Bee knows a few tricks. So, we still don't know where Wasp is, or what kind of trouble he's in. And hey, wait a minute, where the hell is Starscream?**

 **See ya on the flipside~ Elisa out~**


	10. Chapter 10

**Recap: Wasp is still missing, and Smokescreen, a member of the Elite Guard, just tried to capture Bumblebee, but he managed to put Smokescreen in his own stasis cuffs. Now he's once again on the run, now looking for Wasp while still evading the Elite Guard and whatever else may come his way.**

Wasp leaned against a tree once he felt like he was far enough away for Bumblebee not to follow. Maybe it was a bad idea, but now that they weren't stuck together, maybe Bumblebee could at least get the charges on _himself_ dropped. Wasp didn't want to go back to the stockades, but he didn't want to bring Bumblebee down with him. Aside from wrongfully imprisoning him, his twin had done nothing wrong.

"Wasp sorry, Bumblebot," he whispered, turning back in the direction he was heading. He was at least mostly rested from his recharge, so he figured he could get far enough away pretty fast. Deciding on a course of action, he was once again on the move.

Unfortunately, he didn't see the large, jet-shaped shadow above him until it was too late.

Transforming back into robot mode, he spun on his axels to face whatever was coming. He wasn't a bad fighter, as it may have seemed from Bumblebee calling the shots. He was just still rusty from his time in the stockades, and had been taking more to running than fighting regarding the other Autobots on Earth. But if he didn't start fighting, he'd be running forever. He raised his stingers, ready for what was coming.

As the large jet began to descend, it transformed, becoming the Decepticon that had been after them the day before. Starscream?

"I see the pestering little Autobot Bumblebee isn't around," the jet mused, looking down at Wasp who was rooted to the spot. He refused to run this time. "Oh, well." He pointed his missiles, ready to fire. "I suppose one Autobot is better than none!"

"Wasp not Autobot!" the small bot said, pointing to his empty chest plates. It was true. The moment Sentinel had ripped off his insignia, he stopped being an Autobot. "But Wasp not Decepticon, either!"

"Then what are—never mind! That doesn't matter." He smirked. "You and Bumblebee seem close. Perhaps I can use you to lure him out."

"Bumblebot no come after Wasp," the green bot protested, hoping he would be right. He hoped Bumblebee would be upset enough with him for leaving that he wouldn't come. A part of him wanted Bumblebee to come, but the logical part knew that he shouldn't. He didn't want to be alone, but he didn't want to condemn his brother, either. "Bumblebot hate Wasp. That why Wasp and Bumblebot separate when Wasp and Bumblebot get free from stasis cuffs!"

"Is that right?" Starscream asked contemplatively. "Well, we'll just see about that, won't we?" And with that, he fired his missiles.

Wasp rolled to the side, just barely dodging. Bumblebee had warned him that Starscream was fast, so he wouldn't be able to outrun him. He might be able to outsmart him, though, if he played his cards right. Aiming a stinger at one of the mounts on the Decepticon's arms, already loading another missile. He fired, but Starscream moved out of the way.

"Please don't tell me that's the best you've got," the jet said, faking a yawn. "This is going to be far too easy."

When the next missile fired, Wasp did what he and Bumblebee had done before. Aiming quickly but carefully, he sent a blast from his stingers straight toward the missile, causing it to explode before it hit. He ducked under the debris that went flying everywhere and only hoped that Starscream was having the same problem up above.

Starscream activated his scanners as soon as the debris began kicking up dust and dirt. It wouldn't do to just let the little bot escape. He needed him if he was going to draw out Bumblebee. And drawing out Bumblebee would most likely bring in the rest of the Autobots on Earth. And then he would offer a trade. Bumblebee for the Allspark. The Autobots were too soft and attached to their comrades to let one of their own suffer, so it was obvious what choice they would make. They _had_ already almost destroyed the Allspark for the safety of a planet not their own. Why not trade it for the safety of another Autobot?

Of course, for the rest of his plan to fall into place, he had to capture this little green fugitive, first. Hearing the start of an engine, he smirked. "You can run, little Autobot, but you can't hide."

As hard as he tried not to, Wasp panicked. He had told himself that he wouldn't run, but that was exactly what he was doing. At least he was leading the Decepticon _away_ from Bumblebee instead of _toward_ him. Once the dust and debris cleared, he changed one door back into an arm, firing blindly behind him. He adjusted his rear and side mirrors for a better view. Unfortunately, Starscream was nowhere in sight.

Returning his focus to ahead of him, he slammed on his brakes. There was a road block, apparently for some sort of accident. The road was almost barren other than him, but he could see the car that had crashed into a tree. He abruptly turned and headed back the way he came before anyone could notice that the little green car had no driver. He made it just out of view of the accident site when he saw the road blocked again... by a now familiar Decepticon.

"Why Decepticon no leave Wasp alone?" he asked desperately. He just wanted to be left alone, but the Decepticons, the Elite Guard, and anyone else who might be after him wouldn't be deterred that easily.

Starscream grinned. "Oh, you're not the one I want," he informed him, aiming a missile once again. This time, Wasp had nowhere to run to. Nowhere to escape.

"You're just the bait."

 _ **X**_

Sari sat on Bumblebee's berth, worrying about him. She knew how much trouble he was in, and she wished she could help, but so far, it seemed like there was nothing she could do. She was really growing to dislike this Wasp person, because if it wasn't for him, Bumblebee would still be in Detroit, and not in nearly as much trouble.

"Hey, Sari," Bulkhead said, walking in.

"Oh, hey Bulkhead," she replied, staring at the floor and swinging her legs.

Bulkhead looked down at her, knowing exactly what she was thinking. She was worried about Bumblebee. So was he. He was also trying to wrap his processor around the fact that Wasp and Bumblebee were twins. Knowing what he did, it just didn't add up.

"I don't get why Bumblebee is in a lot of trouble, too," Sari told him, finally looking up. "I mean, he's just helping his brother."

Bulkhead sighed. "It's more complicated than that," he began. "Yeah, he's Wasp's twin, which is still weird to think about, but he's helping a wanted fugitive. And remember, Sentinel's the one calling the shots now. He already didn't like Bumblebee. I wouldn't doubt it if he was happy to have a reason to hunt him down."

"It's just not fair," Sari muttered.

"I know."

 **Welp, now we know what happened to Wasp, and where Starscream was. In case you were wondering, he peeled off for a moment because he saw the roadblock and knew that Wasp would have to turn around. Thus, he decided to just lay in wait. But what's going to happen now? How does Starscream plan on using Wasp to draw out Bumblebee? Or can Wasp escape?**

 **See ya on the flipside~ Elisa out~**


	11. Chapter 11

**Recap time: So, Wasp ran off because he wanted to see if the charges against Bumblebee would be dropped without him there. While running, though, he managed to run into Starscream, who captured him to use as bait for Bumblebee.**

Bumblebee drove as fast as he could. He had no idea how much trouble he would be in now for cuffing a member of the Elite Guard. He was _so_ slagged...

"Come on, Wasp," he muttered to himself. "Where'd you go?" Of course, wondering about it wouldn't find him. Only looking would. Hopefully, he wouldn't run into any Decepticons or Autobots before then.

"Hold it right there!" he heard. That was no Cybertronian voice. That was human. He skidded to a stop. Now what?

"You're one of them Autobots, aren't you?" the voice asked, getting closer. Adjusting his side mirror, he saw a woman in a police uniform crossing her arms. Maybe if he stayed quiet, she'd walk away?

Then again, he _was_ a car with no driver. Sighing, knowing the jig was up, he transformed, seeing the woman, along with a few other police officers that had arrived with her, back up in shock. Evidently, even though they knew about the Autobots, they had underestimated his size. He wondered how they'd react if they saw a Decepticon, at least twice his own size. "How'd you know?" he asked. "I didn't think word spread this far from Detroit."

"Not normally, but I was warned about you," she said. "And old friend in Pensylvania PD spread the word. And he heard from someone in Detroit. You might know him. Captain Fanzone?"

Bumblebee groaned. "They got Fanzone in on this, too?" The captain knew he wouldn't hurt humans. But... that was probably why he let as many cops as he could know.

"Where's the other one?" the woman asked.

"What other one?" Bumblebee asked, playing dumb.

She rolled her eyes. "Don't give me that bull. I know you were with another bot, a green one. So, where is he?"

Bumblebee mimed zipping his mouth. "Sorry, lady, but my lips are sealed."

"I have Fanzone's number dialed,. All I have to is press a button," the woman said, pulling out a cell phone. "So, if you don't cooperate, I'll have to call him up and have him send the other Autobots this way to get you."

"They're too far away," Bumblebee pointed out. "I'll be long gone by there. No offense, but you can't stop me."

The woman smirked. "That's where you're wrong, machine." She snapped her fingers. Almost immediately, electric nets were shot up, and though they didn't completely engulf him, they wrapped around his servos and pedes, sending strong electric shocks through his frame. He was determined not to let him fall into stasis, but it did bring him to his knees. He tried to rip the nets off, but his strength was quickly getting sapped.

"No..." he muttered. He would never give up his brother. No matter how much they tried, they would never get it out of him. Not even if they brought him to Sentinel Prime, himself.

This was his last thought as he slowly slipped into stasis.

 _ **X**_

"Good news," Fanzone said, calling the Autobots. "Friend of mine in Ohio found Bumblebee."

"And Wasp?" Optimus asked.

"No sign of him," the police captain said grimly. "But they found a way to detain Bumblebee. He's being moved to a warehouse a few blocks from OPD."

"Got it," Optimus said. "Thanks, Fanzone." He cut the call.

"The found them?" Bulkhead asked. He was definitely hopeful. The sooner Bumblebee and Wasp were caught, the sooner they could sort all this out.

Optimus shook his head. "No, just Bumblebee." He sighed. "No sign of Wasp."

Sari frowned. As long as Wasp was free, Bumblebee was still in trouble. She wanted to go out in search, but they were too far by now to ever catch them.

"Don't worry, Sari," Prowl told her. "We'll find him and clear al this up. Bumblebee will be fine."

"I hope so..." Sari whispered.

 _ **X**_

 _"Good news. Friend of mine in Ohio found Bumblebee."_

 _"But they found a way to detain Bumblebee. He's being moved to a warehouse a few blocks from OPD."_

He smirked. Humans were making this too easy. They should have used a more secure frequency. Instead, they were far too public with their transmissions.

Opening up a map on his ship to find this 'OPD', he smirked.

"Looks like that bounty's mine."

 **Ugh, I hate how short this chapter is! I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!**

 **Phew, now that that's out of my system, I apologize for the short length of this chapter, but I didn't want to drag anything on an bore you guys. But, yeah, Bee's been captured by humans, the Autobots are probably on their way, and then there's someone out there also on his way. (It's probably obvious who it is, but this is another 'I want to hear your thoughts' sorta updater)**

 **See ya on the flipside~ Elisa out~**


	12. Chapter 12

**Recap: Bumblebee was found and captured by some humans in Ohio using these fancy electric nets. The Autobots know where he is, but... so does someone else.**

Wasp groaned as he onlined his optics. He'd been knocked into stasis after another missile from Starscream, waking up. There was a window by his cell, and he glanced out to see something familiar.

He was on the moon.

"Ah, I see you're awake," his captor said, turning his seat toward the green bot.

"Wasp tell Decepticon, Bumblebot not come for Wasp!" he insisted.

Starscream simply laughed. "Oh, but you Autobots are all about your sentimental attachments," he commented.

"Even if Bumblebot want come for Wasp, Wasp on the _moon_ ," Wasp said dryly. "How Bumblebot get on moon?"

"Oh, quite easily. I will be returning to Earth with news of your capture," Starscream explained. "I've heard that twins hold strong connections. I'm sure he'll give himself up for your freedom, and then it will only be a matter of time until I can exchange him for the Allspark!" He grinned. "As for how he'll get here... I acquired a low-power space bridge from a... business contact. Not nearly as powerful as a real space bridge, but stronger than a ground bridge. It will get Bumblebee here easily."

Wasp had little doubt that Starscream got the mini-space bridge from Swindle.

"What Starscream do when Starscream has Bumblebot?" Wasp asked.

"Oh, Primus your voice is annoying," the Decepticon muttered. "I heard the Elite Guard is after you. Maybe I could just... drop you off near an outpost or something."

Wasp nodded slowly, processor working as fast as it could to try to get out of this situation. Even if Bumblebee was angry at him for running off, he had little doubt his twin would come to get him from Starscream. He would probably go in with some kind of plan, but considering how much larger the Decepticon was than them both, Wasp was left with a lot of doubt that his brother would be able to pull off some daring rescue. And it wasn't exactly like he could call for backup, not while being a wanted fugitive.

Wasp's shoulders sagged. It once again occurred to him that it was his fault that Bumblebee was in trouble with the Elite Guard.

Starscream watched him for a moment, seeming to be contemplating something. "You're obviously not going anywhere," the Seeker commented, standing. "I should go pay Megatron a visit..." And with that, he left, leaving Wasp alone in the silence of space.

The green bot stared around him for a long time, processor running as fast as it could. How could he escape? He was trapped in a cell, off-planet, and he had no idea where Starscream had hidden his mini-space bridge.

"Bumblebot?" he asked, trying his comm. link, even though he had a good feeling that he was out of range. The static he was met with proved him right.

But he had another option.

Offlining his optics, he took a deep intake, allowing himself to fall into stasis.

 _ **X**_

 _"Bumblebot?" he called._

 _He wasn't disappointed to see his twin standing there, quickly turning around. "Wasp?" he asked. "Where'd you go?"_

 _"Wasp no want Bumblebot to be in trouble with Elite Guard," Wasp said._

 _Bumblebee laughed. "Huh, yeah, that's not really gonna work right now." At Wasp's confused look, he said, "Some humans got the jump on me. I'm pretty sure the Elite Guard is on the way now."_

 _"But Bumblebot can explain that Bumblebot no do anything wrong," the green bot said._

 _"Uh, yeah... I kinda put an Elite Guard officer in stasis cuffs... And I did attack Jazz before," Bumblebee replied. "Let's face it. We're both slagged. So where are you?"_

 _"Wasp taken by Starscream." At the yellow bot's shocked look, he said, "Starscream want use Wasp to get to Bumblebot."_

 _"Where—?"_

 _"No," Wasp said adamantly, shaking his head. "Bumblebot no come for Wasp. Wasp fine."_

 _"It's Starscream. He's completely nuts!" Bumblebee argued._

 _Wasp nodded. "Wasp get free on Wasp's own. Bumblebot no worry."_

 _"Waspy, you're my brother," his twin said plainly. "I'm always gonna worry."_

 _Wasp smiled a little. He places a servo on Bumblebee's shoulder. "Wasp told Bumblebot, Wasp fine. Bumblebot get Bumblebot free and clear Bumblebot's name." When his brother said nothing, he added, "Please?"_

 _"I'm going to clear your name, too," Bumblebee promised._

 _Wasp smiled a little. "Thanks, Bumblebot."_

 _ **X**_

Slipping out of stasis, Wasp stood. Starscream still hadn't returned, which would definitely work in his favor. Now, how to get out of this cell?

He tested his stingers. They hadn't been disabled, to Starscream's stupidity and Wasp's delight. He studied every inch of the cell to find any weak points he could exploit.

Walking over to the glass, Wasp placed a servo on it. It was strong. He frowned before something caught his optic. There was a small crack in the glass, near the edge. Maybe...

He aimed his stingers, firing straight at the crack. A grin slowly spread across his face as the crack grew larger, spreading across the glass screen. The strong glass was suddenly so fragile.

Backing up just a little, he kicked the screen, shattering it. Hopefully, Starscream had already left. He froze for a few moments, but when the Decepticon never showed, he sighed with relief. Now came the job of finding a way off the moon and back to Earth.

As he explored, he realized he was on the old, crashed Decepticon warship, The _Nemesis_. If he was right...

It took about ten minutes of wandering to find the escape pods. Most were gone, but there was one left. He just hoped it was still operational after all these years and the damage the ship had taken. Now he just had to figure out the code.

To his relief, it wasn't a system that locked out after a certain amount of wrong codes. Fourteen attempts later, the door finally slid open, though it caught halfway. Wasp was just barely able to fit through. As soon as he was inside, he pressed the button to close the door. Nothing happened. Sighing, he grabbed the edge, manually shutting it, though it took a lot of effort. He took a few deep intakes to regulate his systems again before sitting, staring at the controls, more than a little worried. If he had that much trouble with the door...

He clicked on the activation switch, leaning back with relief as the lights slowly booted up. He studied the controls for a moment. He'd never flown a Decepticon escape pod, but it seemed easy enough. He did know, however, that all pods had the release button on the center console. He looked down to see a square red button and pressed it. As soon as the engine started, he placed his hands on the controls, hoping he could fly this back to Detroit.

The pod shot into space and Wasp immediately turned it toward Earth.

"Wasp coming, Bumblebot."

 **Yeah... now that Wasp knows Bee is still going to be in as much trouble as he is, he's realizing that it** _ **is**_ **a good idea for the two of them to stick together. Let's hope he gets to Bee before slag hits the fan.**

 **See ya on the flipside~ Elisa out~**


	13. Chapter 13

**Recap: So, turns out Starscream was holding Wasp hostage in the wreckage of the** _ **Nemesis**_ **on the moon. When Starscream stepped out, though, Wasp made a twin connection with Bumblebee to find out that he was in human custody and decided he was going to save him. He managed to break out of his cell and find an escape pod, which miraculously works after all this time, and is now on his way back to Earth.**

Bumblebee groaned as he onlined to find himself held quite securely by restraints in a warehouse. He still couldn't believe he'd managed to get captured by some humans.

There was an officer that had been leaning against the wall, who obviously saw Bumblebee online. "Uh, Captain?" the officer called through his radio. "He's waking up."

"On my way," the Autobot could hear from the other end. It was just two minutes before the woman who had initially found him arrived.

"I see you woke up," she commented.

"Really?" Bumblebee asked sarcastically. "I had no idea." His processor ran a mile a minute. If Wasp managed to escape Starscream, he'd probably head straight for him, and there was no point in getting them _both_ captured. He feigned a yawn. "So. The Elite Guard is on their way, huh? How long have I been out?"

"Not long enough," the woman said with a frown.

Bumblebee sighed. "Did you ever think that maybe this is some huge misunderstanding?"

"You're not the first criminal to say that," she informed him plainly.

"Do you even know what they accused me of?" he asked. At her blank look, he continued, "They're accusing me of 'helping a fugitive evade arrest'." He paused. "Okay, that's kinda true, but he didn't do anything wrong to begin with, so he's innocent. But they don't care, they just wanna put him back in prison."

The woman looked at him impassively. "If you think you can get me to sympathize with you, you're mistaken."

"I'm not trying to—ugh, never mind," he muttered. The woman, Bumblebee, and the other officer stopped when the loud sound of aircraft engines blasted their ears and audios. "Great..." he muttered. "Starscream? Blitzwing? Lugnut? _Megatron?_ "

Bumblebee winced as a hole was blown through the wall, followed by the sound of transforming. "Try again," a familiar voice said.

"Oh, no, not you..." Bumblebee practically whined as Lockdown approached him. These had been the worst few days of his life. "Primus, just offline me now..." he muttered.

"I'll be taking him now," Lockdown told the woman, grabbing the yellow Autobot's restraints and began pulling him out the hole he'd made. Another net was thrown, but he managed to create a brief force field for it to bounce off. Another 'upgrade'.

"I'd rather be taken by the Elite Guard," Bumblebee complained.

Lockdown smirked. "Oh, don't worry. That's exactly where you're going."

Bumblebee's optics widened. "They put a _bounty_ on me?" he asked. "How much?"

"Five thousand credits for you, ten for your friend," he replied. "Not the highest bounty I ever went after, but a little revenge thrown in makes it a nice bargain. So, where _is_ your friend?"

"Slag if I know," Bumblebee replied. "He ran off on me. But even if I did know, it's not like I'd tell you!"

"Oh, well." Lockdown shrugged. "Looks like I'll just have to pick up his frequency from your processor. Shouldn't be too hard." He started hooking up his machine that he used to get his upgrades. He turned a few dials and approached the yellow bot. Without a word, he dragged him to the berth in the middle of the room and strapped him down. "First, I'm getting that frequency. Then I'm taking your stingers."

 _Please, Wasp... Please scramble your frequency again... Please..._ Bumblebee thought as the cables connected to his processor. He screamed in agony as it felt like his processor was being stripped circuit by circuit. Even after the cables were removed, he was still groaning, wishing he could just offline now.

Lockdown made a few more adjustments to his machine. "Wherever you are, Wasp, I've got your friend here. You want him? Come and get him." He pinged the coordinates to the green mech. He turned and smirked at Bumblebee. "Only a matter of time, kid."

He hooked the machine back up to Bumblebee, this time attaching them to his wrists. The Autobot screamed again as the pain flowed through his wrists. Without his command, his servos gave way to his stingers. That was when Lockdown picked some tools up from a table beside him. The cables must have been pulling the information of how his stingers worked.

Lockdown pulled out a tool that resembled a blowtorch. He lowered it to the stingers and turned it on. Instead of fire, it let out electric pulses. Bumblebee panicked. "I _need_ those!"

"Hold your horsepower, you'll keep your servos," Lockdown said calmly, touching the tool to the seam where the stinger attached to his arm and folded into his servo. Each shock burned, but this time, Bumblebee gritted his denta. He wasn't going to give the bounty hunter the satisfaction of hearing him scream this time. He could feel the circuits connecting the stinger to the arm break, and when he was done, he was able to remove the stinger. He immediately started work on the other one. That one, too, was quickly removed.

Bumblebee stared at the bare ends of his arms. Due to the shocks that had been used to remove the stingers, his servos were locked up. He closed his optics. He was defenseless now.

Lockdown put his newest trophies on a shelf and headed to the pilot controls. "Get comfortable, kid. It's a long way to the Elite Guard." He started up the ship.

They'd been in the air for about five minutes when the ship began to shake. "What the—?" Lockdown began, staring as the hatch opened.

Standing halfway in the ship, half way in smaller ship, possibly an escape pod of some sort, was Wasp.

"Wasp?!" Bumblebee yelled from the berth he was strapped to.

 _ **X**_

 _"I got some news that Lockdown's got them."_

Jazz's head shot up when the voice came through his comm. "Sentinel got _you_ guys in on this?"

 _"Nah, just me. And Sentinel doesn't want to pay that bounty, so..."_

"He's sending you to steal them?" the Elite Guard muttered.

 _"Hey, we take the jobs no one else wants to, under the radar."_

Jazz rolled his optics under his visor. "Alright, but be careful. And we're here if you need backup."

A laugh came through the comm. _"Backup? I don't call for backup."_

"Yeah, yeah, you call for cleanup."

Jazz cut the line. Now it was getting serious.

 **So, the decision to remove Bee's stingers was a last-minute decision. Also, a few people can probably guess what that whole thing is at the end, and I know this character is briefly shown in the actual show, in a flashback, but I wanted to pull something awesome from Prime in here.**

 **See ya on the flipside~ Elisa out~**


	14. Chapter 14

**Recap: So, Lockdown nabbed Bumblebee from human authorities and removed his stingers. His servos are locked up, but Wasp has come to his rescue. Meanwhile, another Autobot is arriving to bring on the twins, but Jazz thinks bringing in this new Autobot may be a bit overkill.**

Wasp ducked under the blast Lockdown sent his way, slipping over to Bumblebee. He made quick work of the restraints, putting as much power into his electric blasts as possible. He went to grab his twin's servos. "Where Bumblebot's servos?" the green bot asked.

"Stuck," Bumblebee replied. "Long story." He ducked another blast from Lockdown. "Why'd you come back, anyway?"

Wasp looked over at his twin with a small smile. "Bumblebot got Wasp arrested for long time. But at end of solar cycle, Bumblebot Wasp's brother."

Bumblebee smiled back, but had to jump out of the way of another blast before Lockdown rushed him. "They never said they needed you alive," the bounty hunter said, raising his hook. Wasp shot a blast at him, knocking him back a bit, allowing Bumblebee to stand.

"Thanks, Wasp," the yellow bot said. He looked at his twin. "How'd you get here, anyway?"

"Decepticon escape pod," Wasp replied. When both looked out the hatch, they saw that the small pod was gone.

"Now how're we supposed to get _out_ of here?" Bumblebee asked, going to place a servo on his face plates before remembering that they were locked up.

Both twins looked around, trying to come up with a solution when a figure dove through the hatch seemingly out of nowhere.

The figure had the insignia of the Autobot Elite Guard, but there was a pair of swords creating an 'X' through the helm. Bumblebee's optics widened with realization as the figure drew a pair of swords from his back. "No way..."

"Come to take my bounty, Wrecker?" Lockdown asked as the two mechs began to circle each other, sizing each other up.

The mech shrugged. "Sentinel didn't really like the thought of paying off a Decepticon." He readied his swords. "So he sent me to make sure he doesn't have to."

"You're here to offline me, then?" the bounty hunter scoffed.

The mech laughed. "Nah, I'm just here for the fugitives, but I wouldn't mind kicking some Con aft."

Wasp caught the look on his brother's face as the new mech charged Lockdown. "What?"

"I thought those were just stories..." Bumblebee whispered. "The Wreckers are real?" At Wasp's confused look, he elaborated, "There was this rumor going around for a long time that the Elite Guard had a strike force that did kinda black ops works. Under the radar." He paused. "Like stealing a pair of fugitives from a bounty hunter."

The Wrecker ducked under Lockdown's arm as it came to strike him, kicking the Con's legs and sending him to the floor of the ship. He was pushed back a little when Lockdown pushed against the floor, kicking the Wrecker straight in the chest on his way up. This, apparently, only made him angry.

"Look, I ain't here to cause trouble," he said, striking with a sword. "I'm just here for those two." He pointed his other sword at the twins. He shrugged. "Of course, I don't _mind_ a little trouble." He backed up, never taking his optics off Lockdown until he was near the twins, with the hatch in between them. A decent sized ship rose level to Lockdown's. "Get in!" Bumblebee and Wasp gave him incredulous looks. "Hey, it's either me or this." He pulled out a grenade. "So I suggest you get in the _Jackhammer_."

As soon as he saw the grenade, Bumblebee practically tossed Wasp into the ship as best he could, lacking a pair of servos, before following him. The Wrecker jumped in after them, closing the hatch before holding up a little control and pushing the button. All three braced themselves as the larger ship blew up, though Bumblebee doubted that would be the last they'd see of the Decepticon bounty hunter.

"Thanks," Bumblebee said.

The Wrecker laughed. "Oh, don't thank me, kid. I'm still taking you to Sentinel." He sat in the pilot seat and took the ship off autopilot, rising in altitude. Bumblebee leaned against one of the large windows, watching as the cities below grew smaller and smaller.

"What Wrecker's name?" Wasp asked. He, as well as Bumblebee, were actually quite curious. Little was known about the Wreckers, and that included their members.

The Wrecker raised an optic ridge. They were his prisoners, and they wanted to know his name? He shrugged. "Name's Wheeljack." He looked back at the twins. They were small and seemed harmless enough. "What did you two even do? Sentinel's flipped out about you guys."

"Believe it or not, it's all a giant misunderstanding," Bumblebee began. At Wheeljack's expression, he said, "I know, I know, they always say that. But it's true! There was this whole mix up a long time ago about there being a traitor, which really turned out to be Shockwave, and Wasp being framed, and me accusing him, and him getting arrested... Anyway, he busted out, we found out the traitor was really Shockwave and Wasp was innocent, but Sentinel thinks that he still knows something about Decepticon plans or some slag like that. He sent Jazz, Jetfire, and Jetstorm here to bring him in, Jazz started to cuff him but I stopped him so we got cuffed together and..." He stopped, taking a deep intake. "You get my point." He paused. "But I'm probably still in trouble for assaulting an Elite Guard. And putting another one in his own stasis cuffs."

Wheeljack barked out a laugh. "That was you? I think he's still out there, since no one else got the chance to get over and get him out." He shook his head, still laughing a little. "Well, even if you didn't do anything, I still gotta bring you in. Sorry about that, kids." He accelerated the ship. "Get comfortable. You're gonna be here awhile."

 **Yeah... The Wreckers are a thing in this story. And instead of being a scientist, Wheeljack is a Wrecker, like in Prime, because I like how badass the guy is. Anyway, there's one more chapter after this. I can't believe we're already almost there!**

 **See ya on the flipside~ Elisa out~**


	15. Chapter 15

**Recap: Wasp came to Bumblebee's rescue, but they didn't really have an escape. A Wrecker sent by Sentinel, Wheeljack, came in and saved their afts... sort of. Now they've been captured and are off to face justice for real this time.**

Bumblebee looked over at Wasp, trying to give him a reassuring smile. He was pretty sure that the only thing he managed was a half-hearted grimace. "We'll be fine," he said, trying to convince both his brother and himself. But he had no idea what Sentinel might have planned for them.

Wheeljack slowed the ship, confusing both twins. He answered a comm. message, but was too quiet for either of them to hear what was said. The ship stopped and turned.

"Look's like Sentinel came all the way to your little planet to pick you up." The Wrecker laughed a little. "Don't know why. I heard he hated this place."

"He probably wants to see the look on Prime's face when he carts us off," Bumblebee muttered. "Those two hate each other."

"Yeah, I can see it," Wheeljack agreed. "Looks like you get to see your friends one last time before you get sent to the big house."

Bumblebee's frame sagged. This would be the last time he'd see Sari. He didn't even want to imagine what this whole thing was doing to the kid, and what she might go through after he was sent off. "Yeah..." he muttered. "Whoopee..."

Wasp reached over and grabbed Bumblebee's wrist, since the yellow bot's servos were still locked up. Wheeljack hadn't bothered to cuff them, since they had nowhere to go, and he could easily overpower them both at once if they tried to take control of his ship. "Thank you, Bumblebot," the green twin said softly.

Blue optics met purple in confusion. "But we both got captured." He sighed. "Guess this whole running thing didn't matter, huh?"

Wasp shook his helm. "What Bumblebot do mean lots to Wasp," he said. "Bumblebot save Wasp from Waspinator. Bumblebot try to help Wasp escape, even when Bumblebot could clear Bumblebot's name."

"Hey, what're brothers for?" Bumblebee asked, able to properly form a smile this time.

"Alright, if you two are going to get all mushy, could you at least do it quietly? You're gonna make me sick," Wheeljack commented, half-joking. Bumblebee rolled his optics and Wasp managed a laugh.

 _ **X**_

A few hours later, they were in Detroit, landing in front of the old factory the Autobots on Earth considered their base. Waiting for them were Optimus, Ratchet, Bulkhead, Prowl, Sari, Jazz, the jet twins, a very fragged off looking Smokescreen, and Sentinel Prime himself.

Wheeljack pulled both twins up and held each by the arm, leading them off the ship.

"Good work, Wheeljack," the blue Autobot said with a nod.

"Wheeljack?" Bulkhead asked. "You brought in a Wrecker?"

"Who told you about the Wreckers?" Jazz asked, curious. They were a team of operatives that were supposedly only known to the Elite Guard.

"I did," Wheeljack said with a shrug, letting go of Wasp and Bumblebee once he was satisfied they wouldn't try running off. "We go way back."

"Okay, this is a story I need to know," Bumblebee commented before receiving glares from every bot present.

"Unfortunately, Bumblebee, I doubt you'll be around to hear that story," Prowl pointed out. "You've both been charged with high treason."

"High treason?" Bumblebee asked, incredulous. "That's a little excessive, don't you think?"

"Helping a convicted traitor and dangerous fugitive escape is a serious offense," Sentinel stated. "Now get going." He motioned to the Elite Guard ship. "Before I have to make you."

Wasp looked at Bumblebee nervously. He didn't want to go back. Bumblebee was looking around at everyone else, probably trying to judge his ability to escape. His entire frame sagged as he realized how slim his chances were, especially unarmed. Literally.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get you out of this, Wasp..." he whispered as he slowly began walking toward the ship. "You know, I think Ultra Magnus would've at least heard us out or given us a fair trial."

"Yeah?" Sentinel sneered. "Well, he isn't here, or in any state to hear _your_ lame excuses."

Jazz removed his servo from his audio with a small smile. "I'd rethink that statement if I were you," he said. "Guess who came back online?"

Sentinel's optics widened as Jazz withdrew a small projection device from his subspace and pointed it at the ship for a good screen. He pushed a button and the image of Ultra Magnus appeared, looking a bit weak, but still online. Jazz turned on his speakers to project the comm. frequency he was getting.

"Sentinel Prime," he began, addressing his temporary replacement.

"Sir!" he replied, standing at attention. All other Autobots did the same, except Bumblebee and Wasp, who still stood there like the convicted criminals they apparently were.

"I understand that you have been attempting to capture Wasp for some time now," Ultra Magnus began.

"Yes, Sir," the Prime replied. "He knows something about the Decepticon plot, so—"

"He is not the traitor," Ultra Magnus continued, "and he has been in the stockades far too long to have acquired any Decepticon knowledge."

Sentinel paused. "But he assaulted multiple Elite Guard forces in his escape!" he defended.

"Hey! Wasp was scared, and there was no way he was going back to prison!" Bumblebee argued. "And I wasn't going to let you do it, either!"

Sentinel glared before turning back to the Autobot leader's projected image. "And Bumblebee assaulted Jazz and locked Smokescreen in his own stasis cuffs! He should at least be detained for that!"

There was a pause before Sari stepped forward. "Okay, I don't know a lot about how all this works, and I'm sorry if this is _completely_ out of line, but Bee was just looking out for his brother." Ultra Magnus looked down at her. "I may just be some techno-organic kid on Earth, but Bee is one of my best friends, and I _know_ him. He wouldn't do something like that unless he had to."

Bulkhead stared at Sari for a moment before taking a deep intake. "Ultra Magnus, Sir, Sari's right. I don't think either of them should get locked up. At least, not without some kind of trial."

"Please," Bumblebee begged.

Ultra Magnus nodded. "You will be pardoned for these charges." He offered a soft, rare smile. "I understand the need to protect a sibling." His face drew back into a stoic mask. "There is, however, still the matter of Wasp's escape from prison, as well as evading arrest. He may be innocent of his previous charges, but he has still committed punishable crimes."

Bumblebee took a step forward. "I'm begging you, Sir, please... Don't put Wasp back in the stockades. It screwed him up enough already. I don't even want to _think_ about what going back will do to him." A thought occurred to him. "Couldn't he stay here? On Earth, with us?" He looked back at the rest of the team, hoping they would back him on this. They looked thoughtful, but didn't object, so he took that as a good sign.

Ultra Magnus pondered the proposal for a moment. "Very well," he finally agreed. "Wasp will remain on Earth with you and your team. I trust you to keep a close optic on his behaviors." The leader looked back to Optimus. "And Optimus Prime, I trust you to keep a close optic on them both."

"Yes, Sir," Optimus said with a quick nod.

Wasp stared at the other Autobots before turning his gaze to Ultra Magnus. He stepped forward. "Thank you," he said. "Wasp very grateful."

"Do not make me regret my decision," Ultra Magnus said. The projection turned off, and Jazz put the device in his subspace, turning off his speakers.

Sentinel sputtered angrily. He couldn't believe they were getting of so easily!

"Come on, Sentinel, let's get going before you crash your processor, huh?" Jazz suggested.

"Fine," he muttered. "At least I'll be off this filthy organic planet."

Jetfire and Jetstorm smiled at Wasp and Bumblebee. "We are glad we are not having to arrest you," Jetstorm said.

Jetfire nodded in agreement. "Twins must stay together."

"Thanks, guys," Bumblebee replied with a soft smile in return.

Smokescreen walked over. "You know, I'm still fragged about the whole stasis cuffs thing, but I think we're even now." He glanced down at Bumblebee's locked servos.

"Guess so," he replied. "You've got some pretty fast moves. If you're even back on the planet, look me up. We could race, and you can see how fast I am _without_ being really fragging tired."

Smokescreen laughed. "I might take you up on that," he answered before jogging to the ship.

Wheeljack was standing with Bulkhead. "It was nice to see ya, Bulk," he began. "Keep in touch, huh?"

"I'll try," the green bot replied as his old friend headed to his own ship.

"You really do need to tell us how _you_ know a Wrecker sometime," Ratchet commented.

Sari ran over to Bumblebee. "I'm glad that's over with," she said with a smile.

"Yeah, me too," her best friend agreed. "Well, now that we're all back on friendly terms, Sari, this is Wasp. Wasp, meet Sari. She's my best friend."

Sari looked at the green bot, thinking. She was still miffed that he had caused all this, but at the same time, she could tell it made Bumblebee ecstatic to have his brother back. She'd give him a chance. "Nice to meet you," she said with a smile.

Wasp smiled back. "Nice to meet you," he replied.

 _ **X**_

"Honestly, kid, I don't understand how you get yourself into these things," Ratchet said, shaking his head. He had his electric generators out, focusing acutely on Bumblebee's wrists. The young bot was finally getting his servos unlocked.

"Just lucky, I guess," he said with a shrug.

"Hold still!"

Wasp laughed at his brother, watching from a seat by the door.

"Hey, Wasp," Optimus said, causing the green bot to look up. "Come here for a second."

Was, confused, stood and approached him, slightly wary. "What Bluebot want...?" he asked slowly.

"Jazz left you something," he said, earning a confused look. He pulled something out of his subspace. "Once Ratchet's done with Bumblebee, he can get to work getting this on you."

In the Prime's servo was an Autobot emblem.

 **Yep. That's it for Bugs on the Run. So, Wasp is a part of Team Prime, so all's well that ends well, right? But wait, something seems off. Did I miss something?**

 **Don't worry. There's a sequel on the way called 'At the End of the Solar Cycle'. (Though I do have a few things I have to work on that have become priority. But don't worry, I won't forget about this none!) But until then:**

 **See ya on the flipside~ Elisa out~**


End file.
